It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Being a lifelong Beatles fan, this review is difficult to compose. I was in grammar school when they were making gold records and I, like many of my contemporaries, felt the beauty of their music. So when it comes to films, they were nowhere near as successful. Let It Be is without question their worst movie. But is, however, a film that should be salvaged... one fine day.Ringo temporarily quit during the White Album sessions and a few months later, George temporarily quit during the Let It Be sessions. That speaks volumes about the toxic problems they were experiencing and it shows in this reality-style film.Obviously their impromptu rooftop concert that ended with John's witty repartee, should not be missed.

OK, so let me get this straight: Magical Mystery Tour, which I've yet to see but have heard is quite bad and pretentious and dated, is allowed to be on DVD, but *this* is banned by the 1/2 Beatles? Why? Because at one point Paul and George have a little argument over a song? As the British would say, bullocks! What they show in the film of arguments and sulking is what happens in ANY band, and in fact is usually much worse - I was almost surprised there wasn't more of the taped back-and-forth exchanged in the film, given what's been said how bad it got amongst the fab four during their final year in recording, particularly on Let it Be aka Get Back (the most chilling thing overall is the presence Yoko, who keeps popping up looking like she could duke it out with Bergman's Seventh Seal Death dude and probably win).While I watched it on a reasonable if as a given muddy and slightly scratchy transfer online on bootleg, it was pretty much the film intact as it played almost 40 years ago. What makes it a must-see is not the direction, which is at best competent and at worst the weakest thing going for it - sadly, Al Maysles was already taken by the Stones, as his eye would have been perfect - but the Beatles and the music. I'd argue after watching this and listening to Let it Be... Naked that the majority of the songs are as great as the main tracks on Abbey Road. Indeed a few of the songs in the movie here, Maxwell Silver Hammer, Octopus Garden, wound up on that album, and are practically interchangeable from the rest of the output.We see the Beatles do what they do best, be Beatles, play and work out the kinks in classic songs, and also the camaraderie that shows what underneath the image given by the other goofier movies that they were simply incredibly talented musicians. This is evidenced by the scenes where they don't actually play or rehearse their own songs but goof around, play rhythm and blues tunes and even at one point a mariachi number sung by Paul! There's not a lot of time spent with them just talking or shooting the s**t - at most we get some reminiscing between Paul and John about the Maharishi or some noodling around here and there between takes. It's not even entirely accurate to say it's documentary, as it's more like an all encompassing, authentic home movie with some extra cash to spare on cameras and editing.It all leads up to that rooftop concert that is still one of those big bad-ass moments in rock and roll history (if, again, not filmed with the best lenses or cameramen, it was perhaps a given that they had to shoot it on the fly). The energy and fun comes through all the way, and contrary to the film's reputation Let it Be shows the Beatles as having fun and doing what they do best even in what was their darkest, near-end period. Maybe there's a longer cut out there that shows more of the arguments, more bickering back and forth and maybe some of Yoko leering on like a supernatural delusion. For me, at least, I'd rather not see it: what remains, and what should for God sakes be shown to a wider and more receptive Beatles audience, is very good stuff. 8.5/10

Let It Be started out as a documentary about The Beatles recording material for what was to be their next album. What director Michael Lindsay Hogg got instead was a documentary about a band who's best days were (unfortunately)behind them & were obviously tired of it all and each other. Hogg shot something like 100 hours,or so,of footage of the Beatles in an glum,dour & sometimes depressed state of mind,and the look on their faces (especially Ringo's)expresses this. The film is broken up in four parts. The first,filmed at Twickenham Studios finds them rehearsing songs,getting in some heated debates,all the time with Paul McCartney trying to be boss of the band (at least in front of the camera). The second part takes place in the basement studios at their Apple Records building,as they jam on some of the oldies that they loved in their youth. In this sequence,they at least seem to be in a somewhat better state of mind (but you could tell that things were far from ginger peachy among them). The third sequence finds them performing what looks like a pre cursor to the MTV style of music video,with the band (with Billy Preston,on organ)playing 'Two Of Us','Let It Be',and a far superior version of 'The Long & Winding Road',without the cloying strings of Phil Spector in the background. The last,and best sequence of the film finds them playing what would be the final public performance of the Beatles,live on the roof of Apple Records for the famous (infamous)free,lunch time concert,which would eventually be shut down by the local Police (also featuring Billy Preston on electric piano). This is a sad,but worthy film for old & new Beatle fans. Although this film earned a 'G' rating by the MPAA in 1970, it does contain a bit of off colour language that'll probably go over the heads of most folk

"Let it Be" is not a good documentary. The first half simply consists of a cameraman sitting in on the Beatles recording for the "Let it Be" album. Everyone looks like they are having an awful time. John Lennon obviously could care less about the music, and instead is with Yoko, who sits in on the recordings. Ringo Starr, the usually happy and smiling drummer is sullen and bored. George Harrison has fun helping Ringo, but other than that, he too is angry and seems bored. Paul McCartney is obviously trying to have a good time, and might be more so than the others, considering the bulk of the songs are written and sung by him. The animosity between the group members is painful to watch, and not only that, but it's not interesting. The whole first part of the film, the group members are constantly eyeing each other (along with the cameraman), and they all seem really bored, and because of this, the audience grows bored too. The only positive for this part of the film is some of the music is good, where some of these recordings sound awful and stiffly played.The second part of the film consists of the Beatle's final live performance on rooftop. This was a great pick-up compared to the first half. The Beatles at first seem like they aren't going to enjoy this, but you can tell by most of their faces that they are having a good time. Many of the songs previously recorded in the last part of the film are sung here, and sound better here than before.Now, it might not sound fair that my review of the film is directly affected by the Beatles attitudes during this time, but it really made the film hard to watch. Not necessarily hard to watch in a sad way, because this was not about the Beatles breakup, but about their final months together as a band. It was just not entertaining, or enjoyable. Where the other Beatles films (although they weren't documentaries) were usually goofy and silly, though stupid, this was boring and dull. The only real reason to watch this is if you are a huge fan of the Beatles, if you want to see what the recording studios look like, or if you enjoy seeing unhappy people (excluding McCartney who was obviously trying to keep his cool).My rating: * 1/2 out of ****. 86 mins.