Wham!

There isn't anything particularly revelatory about this 2023 documentary about the definitive '80's pop duo, but it's a mostly effective retelling of their successful albeit brief track record on the top of the charts. What appears reassuring was the genuine friendship depicted between George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. And how George's mercurial talent as a songwriter and performer quickly broke the pair apart professionally. If there were ugly moments between them, you won't find evidence of them here. Director Chris Smith took a more vanilla approach and used audio-only interviews with George and Andrew to narrate most of the story. Since George died tragically in 2016, Smith apparently didn't want to lean too much on a present-day Ridgeley to have the final word on their story. The still-catchy music speaks for itself.

I was born in 1976 and grew up with Wham! Being a staple of the music on the radio as a kid. It was 'dare you to not dance and sing' amazing. I remember being 8 and belting out careless whisper so much that my mom begged me to stop and I did once my voice ran out. One day during a bath, I got my big toe stuck in the bathtub faucet. I was not paying attention as I was too focused on nailing the chorus down. The Wham!bulance and fire department had to come and free me from a very naked embarrassing situation. My mom did drain the tub and throw me a towel to cover up in. True story.

We all know how George Michael advanced after his 4 short years in Wham! We know his trials and tribulations and the heartbreaking end of his story.

But who really knows the story of how it all began?

This is a brilliant documentary as you hear this wonderful story of 2 best friends since pre-puberty follow their dreams and create something truly magical. It's a fun ride, with lots of opportunities to sing along, and yet the entire time I was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

We ALL KNOW how hard that shoe drops when George is on his own.

Baby spoiler- it never happens.

These documentarians stayed laser focused on their formative years all the way up to the final tour. Then fin. It was so cool to see a documentary in todays times in which we crave off the negative, just spoon feed us the positive, even when we can still read between the lines.

I recommend this doc if you are a fan of their music. Even if you just LIKE it, this flick will remind you that you've been lying to yourself all these years, and you love them as much as the rest of us. Assimilate.

Thank you to the creators of this documentary and Netflix. In a nutshell, it was so well put together, with George and Andrew telling their story in its raw form - no pretence, no fluff, just the facts. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and then laugh again. It made this fifty-five year old woman re-live her youth. I cried at Careless whisper and Last Christmas, I laughed and danced around the lounge room to Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, trying to re-do the moves of a teenager, with creaking knees and hip joints, until it hurt. It was so worth it. I LOVED IT. For those of you who there back in the 80s and fell in love with the boys from Wham as I did, you will not be disappointed.

I've never reviewed a documentary before. But this one really moved me.

I had no idea of the backstory of George and Andrew's friendship. And admittedly, I had always thought of Wham as "George and that other guy". So it was great to see just how important Andrew was to them even becoming a group. The friendship portrayed here is truly amazing. What it must have been like to be in Andrew's shoes, seeing his best friend develop and grow into a huge worldwide phenomenon, while he gracefully stepped back.

Lots of music and concert clips and some cool behind the scenes information on how some of the songs came about. George Michael really was a phenomenal talent. Such a sad ending for him.

I had a smile on my face as I watched most of this film, remembering how lovely George and Andy were together and the infectious smiles on the both of them. Their music is still as catchy as ever, and it was nice to see a lot of early concert footage of the group that I'd never seen before. Thank you Mr. Ridgeley for putting this together. My only complaint was that it was about 15-20 minutes longer than it needed to be, and it could've had more clips of Andy and George in the studio together. Definitely a must-see if you're a fan of 80s pop music, and if you know little to nothing about the underpinnings of George's meteoric rise to solo career fame.