27: Gone Too Soon

In rock music circles the '27 Club' is an infamous community, and not one you want to be a member of. Several famous musicians have died at the age of 27, giving rise to be it being considered a cursed number for musicians. This documentary examines the lives and deaths of the six most famous members of the club: Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse.

One of the worst documentaries I've ever seen. Incredibly superficial in its coverage and filled with unimportant non-experts making ridiculous, uninformed statements about the causes of the six stars' deaths.

The main aim seems to be to find someone to blame, as long as it isn't the stars themselves. Initially there's a segment on drugs, filled with patronising, hyperbole-filled comments from nobody who has anything factual to say. The interviewees are a mish-mash of unknowns, only one of which is actually a medical professional (and even he seems more about making outlandish statements than giving a professional opinion). The only person of any fame, and the only rock star, interviewed is Gary Numan, and his "insights" often seem tangential to the discussion. All the rest are C-grade media personalities and music critics, giving their two cents.

Once we move into cataloguing each of the six stars' stories, there is very little about their histories. Even when the stars' careers are discussed, the interviewees show how clueless they are (the Kurt Cobain segment was rather laughable in how they tried to belittle his accomplishments). The main aim seems to be to demonise the parents, making them somehow responsible for their child's death. There are a few stabs at other stars (eg Mick Jagger and Keith Richards in the Brian Jones segment) and at record companies and the music industry in general but, once again, it is all done in non-factual, hyperbole-filled fashion.

I guess it wouldn't be the 21st century if there wasn't someone else to blame for anything bad that befell us...