Last Updated on May 19, 2024 by
Back to Black is Directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson. Starring Marisa Abela, Eddie Marsan, Jack O’Connell. Running time: 122 minutes. released on May 17, 2024.
To Amy Winehouse (Marisa Abela) singing has always been her great passion. As a kid, she just waited for the opportunity to sing along with her dad Mitch (Eddie Marsan), and her grandmother (Cynthia). And it finally happened. Amy was fortunate to work with a top music label and gladly accepted the offer. The album received a good review, but it isn’t easy to cope with the new lifestyle one used to have in the life of a celebrity.
Besides the publicity, the scrutiny from the public and the record label is also a great weight on her. The predisposition toward alcohol restarts on a faster track and from there when she starts to live with Blake (Jack O’Connell), she continues to other bad habits. Drugs, alcohol, mental illness disorders that come hand in hand with mental illness, and thousands of stress factors start to slowly but surely pull me down.
The film is boring with a few interesting parts with Marisa Abela who looks and sounds like Amy Winehouse, the lead character. It’s an incredible evocation. What I find the most exciting is Amy’s tendency to look for self-destruction in extreme situations. Being drunk, doing drugs, and finding the perfect broken partner.
Sadly, the life of Amy Winehouse was very sad. Some of them might have been self-wounded, but the media did not give her enough space to manifest her real self. She was harassed by the paparazzi. As a young lady, the majority of her life was the butt of these late-show comedians and internet dorks. In my opinion, the film skips the worst of it- the addictions, and the constant press, and such a move is an error. This, in my opinion, is a devaluation of the film’s honesty and the whole plotline.
Some parts of the film fit naturally into the family movie category as you can imagine. Many recurring scenes show the use of drugs and alcohol almost all the time in excess as well as many scenes of smoking, cursing, and sex. Several instances of violence, mainly hitting and slapping, and details of self-harm and bulimia are included. While Amy Winehouse had her share of troubles, the movie also has a difficult time of its own getting it right. Fans are likely to appreciate the movie – for Marisa Abela’s unforgettable performance and the music, but I’m not so sure that the production on its own is strong enough to appeal to this group.
What Parents Should be Concern About
Why is Back to Black rated R? Back to Black has been rated R by the MPAA for drug use, language, sexual content, and nudity.
Violence: There are also some scenes where the man is beaten up by his female partner. Some assaults are only referred to by the characters or happen off-screen. You see individuals with wounds from violence and mishaps.
Sexual Content: There are scenes of boobs and bottom nudity, a group going for a nude dipping. A man and a woman undress in one of the scenes and sex is pretended.
Profanity: There are sexual expletives and some use of crude terms for female genitalia. The common swearwords, deity terms, and also some minor profanity sound often. A homophobic term is used in a song.
Drugs/Alcohol: An intoxicated alcoholic is most of the time seen to be drunk. A large number of characters smoke often. We see a bag of marijuana, and people snort cocaine as well as smoke crack.
