The Wrecking Crew (2008)…

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~Friday~  Bob Netflixed The Wrecking Crew, and we watched it this evening.

This is not to be confused with the 1968 film with the same name staring Dean Martin (The count has stolen enough gold to cause a financial crisis in the world markets so I.C.E. sends in ace spy Matt Helm to stop him.) or the 2000 film with the same name starring Ice-T and Snoop Dogg (A high-level government hit squad is sent into the streets in order to complete a deadly mission.).

The synopsis

A celebration of the musical work of a group of session musicians known as “The Wrecking Crew”, a band that provided back-up instrumentals to such legendary recording artists as Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys and Bing Crosby.  ~From IMDB

The trailer

My thoughts and observations

  • I liked this movie enough.
  • I had a hard time following who people were, because I didn’t know most of these artists (which is sort of the point of the film), and they didn’t do a good job, in my opinion, noting the person who was speaking at various times. They did when they first talked to them, but then a scene would change and I didn’t recognize the people in the next scene, although presumably at least one of them was the person they were just interviewing.

    For example, they’d show someone (in the current year) talking with their name showing on the screen, and then they’d flash back to a scene of many years before with that same person in it (presumably), but there were also other people in the scene, and I couldn’t tell which one of them was the one that had just been interviewed. This happened several times during the film.

  • The best part of the film was learning about the lack of attribution given to artists “back in the day” and learning how many of them played on so many songs with so many artists. It sure built a case for liner notes.
  • If you’re interested in a “professional review” of the movie, I recommend The Wrecking Crew, by Roger Ebert, March 13, 2015.”
  • Themes touched on in this movie included:
    • Getting paid for work you love
    • Father figures (This movie was commissioned, if that’s the right word, by Denny Tedesco, the son of one of the leading members, Tommy Tedesco, of what was called “The Wrecking Crew.”)
    • Broken romances and homes
    • Cultural differences
    • Chasing your dreams
    • Family devotion
  • I gave 1.5 thumbs up to this movie.

Have you seen this movie? If so, what did you think of it?

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