It's nearly impossible not to get caught up in the insane energy of the live performance scenes in this movie (from Jay as well as the audience, who were in love with the world, Jay, and whatever joker standing next to them in the rows out there too), and the man is obviously at his peak here. It didn't feel like a super-cohesive film, but that doesn't bug me too much. I could watch hours of him doing his thing in the studio and Rick Rubin and whoever else is there just sort of marveling at Jay's self-proclaimed "Rainman" routine of just sounding everything out until the puzzle pieces fit. He is not my favorite hip hop artist by a long shot but he is sure as hell interesting, and this film needed to be made, if not for anything else other than posterity. I've watched Fade to Black a good dozen times over the years. I like the authenticity of this film a LOT more than the recent documentary, Made In America-- which was amusing as hell and I loved the collection of artists, but many of the montage bits and segues were pretty pretentious.
Review of Fade to Black
Fade to Black
(2004)
A good, authentic look at the man in his prime-- great live footage
29 November 2013