John Mellencamp: Plain Spoken Live from The Chicago Theatre (2018) Reviews

• Seriously??

  michaelharding-653972018-04-07

  What baffles me about Plain Spoken is that not one of the people who viewed this film before it was released - director, producer, editor and I assume Mr. Mellencamp - thought to themselves, "What a dumb idea". Yes, this is two movies in one - a concert film and a biography - but it is the worst of both worlds. You can't hear the music because John is talking and you can't concentrate on what he is saying because you want to hear the song. I kept thinking that this can't be right and that there must be a way to turn off the voiceover, like on DVDs. Nope, that's the way it was intended. The venue looked great and the band sounded amazing, but John just talks right over them. Even when, on stage between songs, he starts to tell an interesting anecdote that I really wanted to hear the voiceover would come in and drown it out !?! If he was narrating about what was happening on stage, that would be annoying enough, but he does not. They are two completely different things ! John Mellencamp is a very talented and interesting guy, his band is made up of a group of seasoned professionals and, from what I understand, this concert was created specifically for this film - what a waste of all three. I am an enormous fan of movies about musicians that I admired. With this one I ended up fast forwarding through to try to catch any bits of my favourite songs that I could, until I finally gave up. A score of one might seem harsh to some of you, but I am just trying to do my part to ensure that nobody thinks this style is a good idea ever again.

• What a bonus: Two movies in one!

  bettycjung2018-02-09

  2/7/18. An interesting theme in variation, Mellencamp provides his own narrative while singing and playing on stage. For him this method actually works. You get two movies in one! Maybe we should see more of this type of music biopics! You actually get to know Mellencamp better than you otherwise would if someone else did the talking and he just did the singing. He is quite an interesting man!

• Well Worth Any Frustrations With The Voiceover

  sixstringer-441392018-10-06

  John Mellencamp has carried the torch for those of us who ever loved Rock, Roots and the like, and for artists who weren't afraid to venture into other genres and do that well, whether success followed them to those places or not. The toll of cigarettes and age have put a ragged edge on Mellencamp's voice; His artistic vision and ability to write, to produce meaningful and moving music, to tell great stories -is undimmed. Mellencamp has always stopped the car and invited us in for ride. He's been one of our foremost chroniclers of American life, from the youthful exuberance of the early Eighties, until today, when age takes its toll as we're looking in the rearview mirror at our past and the former glory days of Rock. That ride has always been worth the time, has always informed us about our lives, has always affirmed what we've loved, and helped us cope with what has been lost. Others have noted with fairness how the voiceover often distracts from the performance and the stories told at the show. In some sense it would be nice to have the option to click off the voiceover. The reality of that is that most probably never would have listened to what John had to say, which I found to be exceptionally rewarding, rewarding enough for multiple viewings. If the music weren't present, few would probably have bothered to watch. I'm guessing that John Mellencamp has never been averse to getting a bit under our skin and inspiring us to think and speak out.

• Interesting Mix of Concert Film and Documentary

  Michael_Elliott2018-09-12

  John Mellencamp: Plain Spoken Live from The Chicago Theatre (2018) *** 1/2 (out of 4) This here is a rather interesting film as it takes two different formats and basically combines them. On one hand this is a concert film with John Mellencamp performing with his current band in Chicago. It's also like an audio commentary as Mellencamp talks over the concert footage as he discusses his life and career. If you read some reviews it seems a lot of people don't like the concept here. It seems most people would rather have a flat out concert or just a documentary with Mellencamp discussing his career. I personally thought PLAIN SPOKEN was well executed and in the end I think most Mellencamp fans will enjoy it. I actually really did like the way this was made with the music basically in the background and Mellencamp's narration up front. Mellencamp talks about all sorts of subjects from him as a young man, the time he punched his father, his first trip to New York City, trying to get a record deal, what it takes to make a hit record, trying to continue hit records and he then gets to the point in life where he's at now. I thought there were some good stories throughout the documentary including the stuff dealing with Mellencamp and his father. The singer-songwriter also gives his opinion on where rock music is today and he questions where the next great songwriter is going to come from since there are so many platforms and voices out there. As far as the music goes, it does sound terrific but then again, be aware that it's basically in the background and it's the spoken words of Mellencamp that are out front so this isn't your typical concert film.

• "Every day in my life I create something."

  classicsoncall2018-02-17

  I've never seen a musician biopic or documentary quite like this one. As John Mellencamp and his band perform before an enthusiastic crowd at The Chicago Theatre, Mellencamp himself provides a voice-over narrative about his life and career, trying to keep it as 'plain spoken as possible'. To hear him tell it, he's an observer of what other people do and say, stating that he never tried to live up to other people's expectations, including his parents, who weren't always there for him in his youth. It was his grandmother who inspired him with encouragement every day of his life until the age of forty. Mellencamp describes how it was actually easy for him to land a recording contract, simply by leaving copies of a tape he recorded as a teenager with a garage band he joined up with. Very quickly, he came to understand that the music business was all about the money. He's not cynical when he says this, simply a matter of fact that all new recording artists must learn to contend with. I was always curious about Mellencamp's early career when he was billed as John Cougar. That was a studio concoction that he hated, plainly stating that "I did not want to be Johnny Cougar". Very early on, Mellencamp decided that drugs and alcohol wouldn't work for him; a four year period between the ages of seventeen and twenty one convinced him of that when he woke up one morning, severely beaten up by a man who he insulted during a drunken confrontation. He hasn't touched either one since. Mellencamp is joined by country singer Carlene Carter for one number; for this viewer it was a reprise of a performance this past summer, along with Emmy Lou Harris, in a concert at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel, New York, site of the famed Woodstock Music and Arts Festival in 1969. As both events occurred within the past year, Mellencamp appears to be the same, ageless rocker who thrives on creativity and performing. He cites painting, poetry and song writing as his other principal passions, and for him, "True art is always a surprise". Watching this show and hearing his words, the quotes I've provided throughout this review receive their proper context. Above all, Mellencamp emphasizes the words that he's followed throughout his life and career - "There is no reward in this world for settling for something you don't want."