March 03, 2010 12:00PM EST

Blast (From the Past): sex & drugs & rock & roll

 

Most everyone has heard the catchy, naughty song by Ian Dury and the Blockheads, "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll," but this movie offers a chance to learn about the man behind the song. This loose biopic about Dury, an unlikely polio survivor and punk/new wave pioneer, stars Andy Serkis (yes, the man who played Gollum) as the charming and quick-witted but volatile man.

Dury's road to fame was not an easy one. His love life, as you'd imagine, is also pretty rocky; he openly shuttles between his wife whom he refuses to divorce (Olivia Williams) and his girlfriend (Naomie Harris), who takes care of him and sometimes his son, Baxter. Dury's relationship with Baxter (adorable Bill Milner from Son of Rambow) is equally loving and lackadaisical; some of the best scenes are between Dury and the son who idolized him, whether Dury is leaving Baxter to his own devices during crazy rock and roll parties, telling Baxter he doesn't want to grow up to be like his dear old dad, or suddenly abandoning him at his mother's, yet again. Baxter, an outsider like his father, turns to punk rock rebellion after years of bullying.

The non-linear structure adds an extra dimension to what could just be another rock and roll flick. Some scenes are traumatizing memories of Dury's early life as he's stuck in an iron lung, then living in a home for similarly-abled children ruled by an abusive orderly; others are chaotic live performances that devolve into fist fights. Scenes of an adult Dury philosophizing from a darkened stage, his face powdered white and his sunken eyes deeply shadowed, add a more surreal and serious layer to the jokester who loved limerick-like wordplay and the ladies.

Perhaps most interestingly, the film addresses his struggles with the after-effects of polio and his hardheaded desire to be independent while at the same time often needing literal physical help. One of the most inspiring scenes is when Dury goes to the home he spent time in and talks to the kids living there, answering questions and then teaching them how to make loud music and let their voices be heard.

This British import directed by Mat Whitecross (who also directed the documentaries The Shock Doctrine and The Road to Guantanamo) is not to be missed, especially by music lovers. It's a stylish, sexy, funny look at the life of an icon too often overshadowed by the Sex Pistols and other bands from that era.

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sex & drugs & rock & roll will debut both at TFF 2010 and via Tribeca Film On Demand, with founding partner American Express®.