What was Scorsese thinking with ‘Vinyl?’

vinyl10f-1-web

I posted this at 10:18 last night:

Have you tried to watch it? If so, you have my sympathy.

And my hopes had been high. This was a joint effort by Martin Scorcese and Mick Jagger, about the music business in the early ’70s. Martin Scorcese, in case you haven’t noticed, is the director with the greatest sense of rock ‘n’ roll in the history of Hollywood. Think about it: from “Mean Streets” to “The Departed” who used rock better? Let’s be more specific: From the moment Harvey Keitel’s head falls back onto the pillow and kicks off “Be My Baby” to that magnificent Roy Buchanan instrumental cover of the Patsy Cline classic “Sweet Dreams” as the camera pans from the last bloody body to the golden dome of the Massachusetts state capitol… wow.

He has been particularly good at finding perfect ways to use the Rolling Stones — it’s like the songs were recorded specifically for those scenes in those films. So, having Jagger along should make it even better, right?

Nope. It was just awful.

As I said this morning to Robert Rikard when he said he’d had the same unpleasant experience trying to watch the show, the show’s pilot was just a bunch of really unpleasant people being really unpleasant — kind of like a Trump rally, with cocaine.

Even Ray Romano was utterly without any redeeming qualities. Who knew he could be so unlikable? So much for Everybody Loves Raymond. I know actors like to break type, but here’s a tip, Ray — find a new character that audiences can stand to watch…

And the pilot was the episode guaranteed to be good, directed by Scorcese himself!

It is possible to make an engaging movie about the music business in 1973. I point you to “Almost Famous.” Yeah, that was schmaltzy and sweet, but it very successfully captured at least some aspects of why we loved the music. I expected this to be a much, much harder-edged version of that.

Instead, it made me think, “How could I possibly have ever spent a moment of my life listening to anything produced by these people?”

You want to hang out with these guys? Neither do I...

You want to hang out with these guys? Neither do I…

10 thoughts on “What was Scorsese thinking with ‘Vinyl?’”

  2. Addison Ingle

    After watching 4 episodes recorded on our DVR, we jointly agreed to cancel and delete the unwatched shows. Truly awful….

    1. Brad Warthen Post author

      Yes, way worse. And definitely no Joan. No one even remotely resembling a Joan.

      There’s one female employee in the office we’ve gotten to know slightly. She’s the assistant in A&R who handles the office drug stash. She’s trying to get the boss to check out a punk band called the Nasty Bits. Front man is Mick Jagger’s son.

      She was thrilled to witness what I guess was supposed to be the birth of the mosh pit, as young Jagger leaped into the crowd and started fighting with the angry audience.

      The audience was mad, by the way, because the band was horrible… But she is smitten. Her explanation for the brawl that thrilled her — “at least they felt something!” Yeah, they did. They were ticked off. Personally, I’m not seeing this as a salvation of the label, but things seem to be headed in that direction — assuming the show is as predictable as I think.

      Joan had more sense than that.

      2. Brad Warthen Post author

        The unpleasantness is just so unimaginative.

        Our protagonist, record exec Richie, is at his own birthday party and someone (his brother, I think) is shooting video and asks Richie to say something.

        Well, I know exactly what he’s going to do — he’s going to send him away emphatically and obnoxiously, and work the F word in somewhere. It’s like I’m reading the script ahead of what I’m seeing.

        And yep, that’s what happens. And it’s really uninteresting…

      3. Burl Burlingame

        Actually, there’s a new character that out-Joans Joan. And Richie has put her in charge.

  4. Burl Burlingame

    I’ve been sticking with the show, because every once in a while it has a sly sense of humor.

    But it is really a horrific look at a cocaine meltdown. Based on this last week’s installment , I’m beginning to think it’s all in Richie’s head as he has nightmares. He’s already plagued by the ghosts of dead rockers …

    I’ve been around enough Hollywood mid-level people to recognize the sheet awfulness of these characters. Believe me, I’ve seen worse.

    Hey, give Ray Romano a break. He can’t play Ray Romano the rest of his life. Besides, his character on “Vinyl” is about the only sympathetic one there.

Comments are closed.