TIFF Review: IT MIGHT GET LOUD

The concept behind the film is simple.  Take three recognized guitar gods, each from a different generation.  Then put them in a room together and let them talk about their craft, their instrument.  And for good measure, throw a few of their favorite instruments in there with them and let them jam a bit.  The players?  Led Zeppelin‘s Jimmy Page, U2‘s The Edge and White Stripes front man Jack White.  Two of these men are arguably the most influential players of their respective generations while the third has a fighting shot of claiming that title for the current age, and each has a radically different approach from the rest.  Should be interesting, yes?

Well, yes, though perhaps not quite to the degree that you would hope.  Page seems perfectly comfortable playing the elder statesman throughout, White is a curious mess of contradictions, while The Edge comes off as the most thoughtful and heartfelt of the three.  The film follows a very simple structure, cycling through the three players one at a time and allowing them to tell their own stories in their own words:  how did they come to the instrument, when did they realize this was who they were, how does the creative process work, etc? 

White gets some of the most compelling individual moments - the film starts with a brilliant bit in which he knocks together a single stringed electric slide guitar out of some scraps of lumber, two nails, a length of wire and a pop bottle before defiantly asking why anyone would need to go out and buy a guitar - but despite his protestations that art needs to be about honesty and truth he never quite steps out from behind his carefully molded image.  Much more interesting are the sequences with The Edge and Page, both of whom have spent the bulk of their careers hugely overshadowed by larger-than-life vocalists being given the chance to talk about themselves and their craft in their own words, with scarcely a mention of their respective front men.

Also fascinating are the sequences are the scene in which the trio sit to jam together, each of them taking a turn to show off a favorite riff, to teach one of their songs to the others.  When White and The Edge step up to the plate the other two men watch intently, trying to figure out how the man playing does what he does - what is different from what they themselves would do if left to their own devices, and why.  But when Page steps up and hits the opening notes of Whole Lotta Love both The Edge and White visibly struggle to keep themselves from cracking up like a couple of star struck kids.  Yes, as much as they’ve accomplished they’re both still fans first, both still in it for the love of the music and the people who make it.

It Might Get Loud suffers a touch from a lack of focus, it could use a more pointed approach to its material.  But then again, had it gone that route it would very likely have lost most of the casual intimacy that is its greatest strength and that would be a shame.  So while it’s hard not to wish for a bit more it’s also hard to knock it for being what it is. 

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