Load of rubbish!!

Highly Overrated But Still Good

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

I've watched this about ten time, now. The Jackson Five was big when I was in high school and I loved the songs they did in the very early 70s. I love how this addresses how mature he was, as a child, and how he was so eager to learn and instinctively knew things that it took most adult artists years to learn. He was amazing, and in interviews, he always seemed so nice, and to enjoy what he was doing, immensely.I love the fact that this documentary ends before what I think of as the artificial Michael Jackson started to come out. That part is so unspeakably sad that I can't stand to watch anything about it. I don't really think saying that is a spoiler, since the title says that it only goes through "Off the Wall".

Once again, Spike Lee brings us a wonderful introspective into the life of our beloved Michael. This is a must-see for those of us who literally grew up with the music and presence of the Jackson 5, Jacksons, and "MJ".Not that we need a reminder of the magic of Michael Jackson, but the rare footage and interview snippets definitely will bring smile to one's soul.I especially loved the portion of the film where they discussed The Wiz, which is my favorite film to this day. So many parallels exist between Michael and the scarecrow. It's rare to find behind the scene footage of this movie, so the feedback from the screenwriter, producer, musical director and others talking about working on this cult classic is amazing.And obviously, the mesh of Quincy Jones with Michael to create the masterpiece that is Off the Wall...is the stuff of legends. To this day, this album still sounds new. It simply grooves and is a dancer's dream. From the pulsing bass line and explosive percussion on "Don't Stop Til' You Get Enough" to the softer, jazzier Stevie Wonder-flavored Quiet-storm favorite, "I Can't Help It". The iconic "Rock With You" had the gorgeous video of Michael in the silver/black suite and matching boots.The instrumentation and songwriting on OTW was just as incredible as the lyrical performance. Top-notch musicians, writers were used and it was LIVE. Not Memorex. Louis Johnson of the Brothers Johnson showcased his signature bass slapping on "On the Floor". Then you had former Heatwave member, Rod Temperton bringing hits "Off the Wall" and "Burn this Disco Out" to the table. This album showcased so many talents from writers to musicians. Even "Girlfriend" was written by Beatle great, Paul McCartney. And who can forget a choked up Michael singing the last cracking notes of "She's Out of My Life". He was a master at emoting. Hands down. "It's the Falling in Love" was a smooth duet with Patti Austin, who also sang great duets with James Ingram. Yet, with all the music masters behind this project, the album only won 1 Grammy for the song "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough". It was all good though because the seed was planted from OTW and the next album Thriller would absolutely break the Grammys and the world on so many levels.We were pretty much introduced to the Michael the solo star from this album. It was truly the catalyst to his rocket-launched career.

If you believe everyone who does their piece to camera in this fawning adulatory documentary by Spike Lee, then "Off The Wall" is the greatest piece of music ever created in the history of western music. Well, sorry Spike, but, this just in, it isn't, at least not in my opinion. Jackson himself only wrote two and a half (one was a co-write) songs on the record and the rest are a mixture of Rod Temperton originals and errr... off the wall cover versions of songs of very varied quality, I mean Paul McCartney's saccharine "Girlfriend", Carole Bayer Sager's vacuous "It's The Falling In Love" and that god-awful ballad "She's Out Of My Life", by whoever wrote it, seriously, who even plays these tracks today.The film purports to take us from Jackson's glory Motown days to the release of this supposedly epochal album, but ends up by giving us an extended track-by-track run-through of "Off The Wall" like an episode of "Classic Albums". I did enjoy seeing some unseen footage of various Jackson interviews but these are swamped by a host of uncritical, cringeworthy comments by a variety of participants, many of whom I either didn't know or whose relevance to MJ, I couldn't comprehend. Cobey Bryant, I understand, is a basketball player but not someone whose opinion on music I'd care to hear. For sheer sore-knees sycophancy however, someone called Rosie Perez certainly takes first prize. For some strange reason, David Byrne, ex of the new-wave band Talking Heads, gets to say a few rather distracted words along with archive interviews with the likes of Sammy Davis Jr and Gene Kelly. Yet nowhere are there interviews with the likes of Temperton, Quincy Jones (other than on archive), McCartney or even Diana Ross. It's all very odd and disjointed indeed.The movie also glosses over the car-crash that was his acting debut "The Wiz" and also hasn't even got the guts to call out the duff note at the end of the afore-mentioned "She's Out Of My Life". It goes without saying too that there's no mention of his difficult relationship with his typically pushy show-biz father Joe, his own eccentric lifestyle, health problems or his future travails in the courtroom. There's some exciting footage of a Jackson family concert circa 1981 showing him for the great performer he undoubtedly was but it's milked for song after song until its effect is diluted. But when I'm later told that a promo video of "Rock With You" is compelling viewing by the faithful admirers when all it is, is Michael miming in a spangly suit, then I guess I'm in the wrong crowd. And as for that awful rap performed again by someone I don't know over the end titles, the least said the better.Listen, I'm a fan of Michael Jackson and when he was good he was utterly brilliant, as a singer, writer and performer. But really there's only one outstanding song on the "Off The Wall" album and that's his own "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" with maybe three goodish ones backing it up "Rock With You", Stevie Wonder's "I Can't Help It" and the title track. I would question the premise of the timeline represented by this documentary (the Motown years must be worth a film of their own, surely) and seriously question its complete lack of anything approaching critical analysis both of Michael Jackson and his music.Oh and by the way, the Jacksons "Triumph" album, made just after this, to which he contributed far more musically, is much superior to "Off The Wall" and any other solo album MJ ever made. If this is the fuss Lee makes over the fair-to-middling "Off The Wall", I fear for the treatment "Thriller" will get, although I might laugh at the same superfans here admitting that it beats its unbeatable predecessor. Meanwhile this massively biased feature is for devoted Jackson fans only.

This documentary on the impressive, to say the least, Michael Jackson...Is GOLD. Can't help but think of the time and skill at which Spike Lee puts into this needed to be told Documentary on the life of Michael Jackson leading up to his release of OFF THE WALL. The old footage. As clear as it can be. Stunning. The editing is incredible. The interviews from the people who were there, in the studio. To the people who were influenced in and around the time of Michael, and the Jackson 5. I didn't want it to end. And yet, I'm reminded of just how extraordinary of a talent Michael was. And the extraordinary sad events on how we lost him.First there was the BAD documentary, then there's the OFF THE WALL documentary. I hope Spike is saving the best for last with THRILLER Documentary. But after watching JOURNEY from Mowtown to Off the Wall. That might be a hard order to fill. Please Spike do it.Two talents...Spike Lee making a documentary about Jackson. Unbelievable. Thanks Spike Lee, and Thanks Michael...for everything.