The long-awaited biopic of Jimi Hendrix, directed by 12 Years a Slave scriptwriter John Ridley, is finally nearing cinemas, and to draw attention to this fact, a trailer for the film has popped up on the internet.
Somewhat scuppered by the fact that the Hendrix estate wouldn't let the great man's music be used, the film may be up against it to tell the story properly. However, Henry Barnes, our man at last year's Toronto film festival, was extremely complimentary in his first look review, writing that " the essence of the man – exposed through the people around him – has been brought to the fore".
So, does the trailer tell us more? The man playing Hendrix is André Benjamin, of OutKast renown, and in the brief glimpses we get he seems to do a pretty good job. The focus, as we know, is as much on manager Chas Chandler, and interested women Linda Keith and Kathy Etchingham, who helped propel Hendrix to worldwide renown; though there's a bit of inevitable Swingin' Sixties 'tache-and-miniskirt syndrome, we can see the peripheral players do get a decent amount of screen time.
So what do you think? Does the trailer for Jimi: All Is By My Side kiss the sky? Or does it need shooting down? Let us know in the comments below.
