From the Sky Down (2011)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
I'll start off right here stating that I really haven't followed U2 and that I know very little about their music outside the "greatest hits" that are constantly on the radio. I always wanted to dig a little deeper into their music and after seeing this documentary it made me want to do so more than ever. The film's main focus is on the making of the band's 1991 album Acthung Baby, which was a big breaking point for the group. The documentary covers their early career and everything leading up to this album including the various highs. However, as the band states, they put all their money into U2: RATTLE AND HUM, which turned out to be a disaster and the band discusses how this album was really going to either make them or break them. If you're a fan of the band then there's no question that you're going to want to watch this simply due to all the archival information including stock footage of concerts, interviews and of course some behind the scenes stuff. Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr. are all interviewed about their work on the album, the various troubles the bank faced and of course the end result. There are several memorable moments here but one of the highlights is when we get to hear an early version of a certain song, a reworked version and over a period of time we come to see how it finally got to its finished stages. The band commenting the entire time talking about what it took to get to that point and the various changes along the way. Another strong point is a sequence where the band was on shaky ground and director Dennis Guggenheim has a funny bit where we see other bands who ended up breaking up over much smaller things. The documentary really does do a good job at making the viewer a fly on the wall in terms of everything that went on with the production of the album. There's some excellent moments scattered throughout and only a few moments of blandness.
