Wonderful character development!

Truly Dreadful Film

terrible... so disappointed.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Chuck Berry only ever wrote one song and continued to re-write that one song for the length of his entire career. The one song he wrote he ripped off from the piano chords of Johnnie Johnson. But no one gives a damn because Chuck more-or-less invented rock and roll. Cars, girls, school, movies, girls school, cars, etc, etc.Taylor Hackford's slick and slyly incisive chronicle revolves around Berry's 60th birthday show - an event coordinated and realised by none other than Johnny Depp's dad, Keef Richards. It reveals Berry by turns as an egomaniac, money grubber and genuine musical genius. The film is a blast for anyone who is in the least bit interested in the roots of rock music and the trajectory of it's influence. Richards said of Berry "Before him, there was nothing." I can almost believe it.

Its a real shame Chuck Berry did this documentary. It finally shows the world what a complete egomaniac this guy is. A documentary is supposed to show a warts and all look at the topic, obviously Mr. Berry has a few truths to be hidden. We all know about the jail terms, the concerts without rehearsals, playing with local bands who do not know the song score until the actual performance,the womanising, not willing to play a gig until the promoter throws cash into his greedy little hands. What a guy, he is married and on the road takes his mistress and anybody else he can get his hands on. Chuck Berry's guitar as Keith Richards admits always out of tune, timing out the door, how did this guy survive in the music world for so long is beyond me. The only saving grace of this documentary is he finally got himself a professional backing band.

With the event of his 60th Birthday, Chuck Berry organising a special concert with the help of some very famous friends and colleagues. This film follows the rehearsals for that concert as well as the show itself while also taking time to interview Berry's peers, family and friends to get a picture of the man himself.Although I'm not a huge fan of Berry's, I do enjoy his music and am also interested in the man himself. It is for this reason that I watched Hail, Hail Rock n' Roll despite not really knowing what angle it was coming from. The film works well with the backdrop of the 60th birthday concert and gets access to see Berry at work, and thus see what an ass he can be! The rehearsal scenes are the most enjoyable as stars such as Keith Richards and Eric Clapton are frustrated by Berry's approach. However what the film fails to do is really go beyond what Berry either wants to show or can't help but show. Discussions over his marriage and his run-ins with the police are quickly brought to a halt.There is much of interest early on and many of the interviews with other stars are really interesting to a point. The second half of the film is mostly taken up with the concert and sadly most of it isn't as good as you'd hope it to be. All the instruments are great and Berry is a good showman but his voice is not as strong or as effective as it once was and it shows in some of his songs. Happily the influence of others and his basic talents as a musician and showman help cover the odd shaky moment.Overall I felt that I didn't really know much more about Berry than I did before I watched the film. I got a reasonable impression of what type of person he is but I didn't know too much about his past – especially anything that he clearly didn't want to be discussed or shown. The music is good despite some of his songs being a bit less than he would have hoped, and the film is worth watching if you have more than a passing interest or appreciation for the music involved.

Should be required viewing for all rock fans, aspiring guitarists, songwriters and pop culture historians. Three points:1.) Berry is truly shown as the multiple demonsional individual he is: smart and articulate, funny, often bitter, and at times a REAL ASS!2.) Johnny Johnson rocks! Strange how Berry decries the industry for ripping him off but seems obtuse to how much he owes this rock piano genius.3.) The story told by Bruce Springsteen is priceless.