Review
DULCIE PEARCE
Back To Black review: The devastating story of Amy Winehouse is given Hollywood treatment
Many fans were concerned about Marisa Abela's singing, but it is spot on
BACK TO BLACK
(15) 122mins
★★★★☆
LOVE is a losing game in this biopic about the extraordinary talent that was Amy Winehouse.
The tragic tale reveals how a young Jewish girl from North London came to write powerful songs of love and heartbreak.
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This sees director Sam Taylor-Johnson once again taking on the story of one of our greatest musicians, after her 2009 debut, Nowhere Boy, about John Lennon.
But does she do Amy justice? In the first 15 minutes, perhaps not.
It feels like a rose-tinted version of the Winehouse family.
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But the moment Blake enters, the foot is on the pedal of this destructive love affair.
Marisa Abela, from BBC’s Industry, takes on her first lead.
From girl-next-door to drug-addicted superstar, she does a sterling job of the complicated character.
Many fans were concerned about her singing, but it is spot on.
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Blake Fielder-Civil, by Jack O’Connell, is dealt with sensitively as a fellow lost soul.
And the now-famous cab driver dad, Mitch — Eddie Marsan — comes across as a decent dad.
This is a Hollywood friendly film of the downfall through drugs and dodgy men of a superstar.
A Disney version of Amy’s decline, but still a desperately sad lost love.
Music video for 2006 song Back to Black by Amy Winehouse
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