The Man from Mo'Wax (2016) Reviews

• Not your typical music documentary - A fast paced emotional roller coaster

  lulabula2018-09-02

  A fascinating watch even if you are not necessarily into this music scene. You are taken on fast paced and emotionally journey through James Lavelle's career. This is not your typical music documentary. It shows some quite raw and difficult to watch moments when Lavelle is at his lowest. The humour sprinkled throughout, especially from interviews with Josh Homme really make this film sparkle.

• Incredible film - one the most honest music documentaries I've ever seen

  lee_h_992018-09-10

  I really loved this film - such an honest exploration of a unique part of music history and the mad rollercoaster that is James Lavelle's life - not your yourself artist promo pretending to be a documentary. There's some amazing home footage of DJ Shadow and some really funny interviews with all the different people Lavelle has worked with. If you happen to be fans of Joshua Homme, Thom Yorke, Ian Brown there's some great interviews and never before seen studio footage of them. Even if you don't know about the music or this era it's just a really honest and relatable, human story that makes you laugh and cry at different moments. There's also some great music that makes up the soundtrack - so I highly recommend this film to everyone.

• Excellent!

  non-grata2018-09-25

  Without a doubt, The Man From Mo'Wax is one of the best music documentaries I have ever watched. From start to finish, the movie is so well edited with so much great footage and gives a honest view on the ups and downs on the career of James Lavelle.

• Fantastic - truly warts-and-all

  MwabaNgwisha2018-09-12

  This is a film you have to see, it's honest, exhilarating and packed full of brilliant tracks. Even without being a die-hard Mo'Wax/UNKLE fan I could watch this film countless times, this is a profound story of dizzying success, crushing failure and everything in-between. Amazing home video from James Lavelle and DJ Shadow as well as some really insightful (and at times very funny) interviews with key people from from the worlds of music and art, Josh Homme, Futura, Ian Brown for example, make this film a must see.

• Fantastic !

  philippehomer2019-04-30

  I can't speak enthusiastically enough about The Man from Mo'Wax. As a child of the late '70s, this documentary hits a sweet spot for me in that the main players were all huge influences on me in my late teens and early twenties and the soundtrack plays like the soundtrack to my own personal coming of age biopic. More than that though, whilst I find the subject and the music of this documentary thoroughly engaging from a nostalgic perspective the narrative portrayed here is enthralling, the character arcs both fascinating and captivating. The Man from Mo'Wax feels well-paced, and crucially with so many interesting dynamics to explore and so much source material to call on it didn't feel like the filmmakers had tried to cram too much information into the film, fortunately, they also avoided the trap of leaving too much out. The film gives a great insight into the creative process and what can be achieved when people with different strengths of character come together in pursuit of a common vision; and in stark contrast what happens when those common visions diverge, people stop communicating and self-interest and ego prevail. I enjoyed The Man from Mo'Wax from start to finish, from young enthusiastic can-do (f*$k you) attitude to an older and wiser reflection on how things came to be. No judgement just an honest and open retelling of what went down. I thoroughly recommend this film 10/10.