FILM

USA 2011 109mins Dir Cameron Crowe Starring Eddie Vedder, Kurt Cobain, Neil Young, Chris Cornell, Stone Gossard, Mike McCready, Jeff Ament, Matt Cameron

Something's off key about showing Cameron Crowe's documentary that beats the drum for Pearl Jam's twentieth anniversary at both Vue and Showcase cinemas. Famously, the grunge stalwarts railed against the avarice of commercial monopolies, highlighted by their David-Goliath battle against Ticketmaster in 1994. And yet while these two multiplex giants aren't altogether artless, they do represent a kind of creative phoniness, a conveyor-belt uniformity that smacks of profit debasing art. Venue wonders how the band might feel if they knew punters were charged £12 a head to see their film?

The Seattle-based music hack turned director's grunge retrospective has emerged surrounded by hype aplenty. And the buzz has been cranked to 10 due to the film's concurrent release with another momentous milestone in rock – the twentieth birthday of Nirvana's rulebook-obliterating ‘Nevermind’. Grunge-o-rama all over again? Not quite. But these blaring flashbacks to the roaring 90s are a timely reminder of how vital and valuable the zeitgeist was. Except that, and it's a heart-sinking disappointment, ‘Twenty’ feels more like a beige and inoffensive VH-1 feature than an explosive exposé about one of the most soul-shaking artists of the era.

In just under two hours, Crowe strings together grainy home-video footage, concert excerpts and homey interviews in one linear 20-year passage, from their early Mother Love Bone roots, to the present day. Along the way, there are insights into the events that shaped the band – Andy Wood of Mother Love Bone's death; the Roskilde tragedy where nine fans died; and their courtroom battle against Ticketmaster. It's all very pedestrian, however, with a shuffled-together finish, as if a bedroom fan boy chucked together a bunch of miscellaneous You Tube clips. Riffed on time and again and central to the film is the band's belief in staying true to their art. It's a valiantly rock ’n’ soul message, especially for aspiring musicians, but it's hardly a revelatory theme.

Though Crowe coaxed this notoriously private band to open up, he hardly gets under their skin. What's more, the members are frankly a bore, save chief songwriter Stone Gossard, who delivers a moment or two of comic relief. And, frustratingly, there's nary an insight into the band's creative development, save a memorable moment when Eddie Vedder and Stone Gossard are penning 'Daughter' on a tour bus.

‘Twenty’, then: a strictly fans-only release. To get a truly penetrative insight into Pearl Jam’s potency, delve into their back catalogue, for it’s their music that speaks volumes about how truly indispensible these artists are. (Jamie Skey)

Website www.pj20.com

Copyright Jamie Skey 2011