As the flamboyant rapper André 3000 of Atlanta duo OutKast, André Benjamin already has set himself up as one of the most likable and influential hip-hop stars of all time. His best performance yet, however, might actually be his uncanny portrayal of rock's greatest guitar player of all time.
Benjamin doesn't really act his way through the lead role of "Jimi: All Is By My Side." He outright embodies the late rock legend Jimi Hendrix in an otherworldly, If-6-Turned-Out-To-Be-9 sort of way befitting the film's cosmic subject — from the nervous tics and soft-spoken, spacey-yet-thoughtful mannerisms to the physical likeness that's so crucial in this case.
His mesmerizing work saves this unique and somewhat controversial new biopic from a level of entirely un-Jimi-like mediocrity.
Written and directed by Oscar-winning "12 Years a Slave" screenwriter John Ridley, the long-in-the-works movie recounts one — and only one — year of Hendrix's story, 1966-1967. What was a whirlwind era in real life, however, doesn't exactly whoosh by on screen.
It starts with the Seattle native living in near-squalor in Harlem and ends with him becoming the toast of the London rock scene on the way to 1967's Monterey Pop Festival. In between, we meet the people who helped get him there, including model/groupie Linda Keith (Imogen Poots), manager and Animals bassist Chas Chandler (Andrew Buckley) and girlfriend Kathy Etchingham (Hayley Atwell).
As has been well-publicized, "All Is By My Side" doesn't actually feature any of Hendrix's music. His family/estate would not grant the filmmakers access to any of his recordings. Instead of "Purple Haze" or "Foxy Lady," we only get to hear Hendrix-like instrumental jamming and re-creations of cover songs, such as "Wild Thing."
The lack of authentic music isn't such a big shortfall, but the Hendrix family's beefs with the movie prove legit. For starters, the movie overplays his romantic and celebrity liaisons in a gossip/tabloid manner. It's way more interested in who's playing Jimi than what Jimi's playing.
More specific and troubling, there's one particularly overplayed scene of Hendrix beating one of these women — a scene denounced by noted biographer Charles Cross and the real-life alleged victim as pure bull.
