I can’t in good faith give this title a lengthy reviews though I will do my best. The great southern rock band known as Lynyrd Skynyrd produced a number of hit song and best-selling LPs placing them in the pantheon of rock bands that will long be remembered. Hailing from Florida they established themselves as a force to be reckoned with on the road playing to everything from bar crowds to stadiums in their short lived career. Their first LP was released in 1973 but in 1977 their career was cut short when their chartered plane crashed killing lead vocalist/songwriter Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and backup singer Cassie Gaines while seriously injuring the rest of the band. The band struggled but eventually regrouped with Van Zant’s younger brother Johnny on lead vocals. It would seem like this would be a great story to turn into a feature film. Unfortunately it gave us this.
Drummer Artimus Pyle kicks the film off appearing as himself and telling his version of the band and what took place the year the crash happened. Actors portray the various band members in what appears more like a cliché of the hard drinking, hard living rock bands of the time. While I have no doubt that they lived that lifestyle the script and performances here make it almost a cartoon version of that.
Most of the film takes place in small locations. Backstage
rooms where fights and arguments break out, tiny clubs that the band no doubt
was not playing by the time they died and interactions inside the airplane they
were spending plenty of time in. To watch this film you would think that the
reason they died was because the co-pilot was so much of a fan boy for the band
that he forgot to fill the spare gas tank among other screw ups. I don’t know
if that was the case but I wouldn’t trust this film to give me the facts.
Bits and pieces of songs are heard no doubt because they couldn’t get the rights to feature them all in their entirety. Pyle is seen in different spots leading into the various segments as well as the end of the film where he’s playing drums. Why he loaned his participation in this film is beyond me unless the producers convinced him that it was going to be more than what the final product ended up being.
I liked the band but was never a die-hard fan that would still listen to them on a daily basis now. That being the case it is sad to think that this is the legacy they left behind. Fans will most likely clamor to pick this up thinking they are getting some new insight into the band. Unfortunately that isn’t the case.
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