Nick Moran definitely emphasizes certain characteristics of the idiosyncratic producer over others for affect, but this is still as fascinating portraits in parts.
Comment
06/19/09
Telstar: The Joe Meek Story (2009)
83
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:23
Fresh:19
Rotten:4
Average Rating:5.9/10
Consensus: Nick Moran's excellent portrait of an often forgotten pop legend is as eccentric and chaotic as its subject.
Rated: 15
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:19-06-2009
Reviews for Telstar: The Joe Meek Story
Top CriticEven if ‘Telstar’ can’t quite get the measure of its fascinating material, its pluck and ambition prove infectious enough to outweigh its flaws.
06/19/09
Top CriticTelstar is an embarrassing farrago, an amateurish, incoherent pantomime of a piece, stuffed with interchangeable characters, a sketchy, largely unsympathetic leading role, and - betraying its stage play origins - unspeakably stilted dialogue.
06/19/09
Top CriticThis is Meek’s show, and as a wild and hostile central character (the bellowed phrase “F*** off” is never far from his lips) he is likely to fascinate and alienate in equal measure.
06/19/09
Top CriticNick Moran's film, based on the stage-play he wrote with James Hicks, is an eccentric, sometimes underpowered but always watchable story about the early-60s prehistory of pop culture.
06/19/09
Top CriticThe Meek they present is closer to being a character in Little Britain than the mysterious, proto-avant-garde sonic scientist revered by legions of contemporary electronic musicians. A little more weirdness would have been very welcome.
06/19/09
Top CriticO’Neill’s performance is spellbinding, with Moran commendably allowing the actor the necessary time and space on the screen to believably cast his darkness upon those around him.
06/19/09
Like Meek himself, Telstar draws you in despite its its imperfections, which don't detract too much from a bold take on an undertold and fascinating story.
06/19/09
It’s a solidly-made, enjoyable story that manages to rope in some notable cameos (can anyone spot Jimmy Carr) and shows Moran is a name to watch as a director.
06/19/09
Clumsily plotted and psychologically messy as it is, Moran’s pop biopic is a ripe bustle of business, given substance and conviction by well-rooted performances.
06/19/09
Moran’s film is not empty nostalgia. It is not The Boat That Rocked. It should be filed alongside Stephen Frears’ Joe Orton biopic, Prick Up Your Ears, because its breezy exterior conceals a thoughtful consideration of a strange moment in British pop.
06/19/09
Like Meek's music, it's not much good and definitely not sophisticated, but I enjoyed it.
06/19/09
Telstar is a rambling, chaotic mess that's got missed opportunity written all over it.
06/19/09
Telstar is still an oddly compulsive story of an exuberant mess of a man who played a key role in British pop history.
06/19/09
Nick Moran's directorial debut is, in fact, remarkably light until it nears its tragic climax.
06/19/09
By the film’s end we feel we have had too much of a good thing – but since that is what the hero died of, it seems an appropriate sensation to leave us with.
06/19/09
Some nice moments, though not all that convincing in its lament for a great lost talent.
06/19/09
The film lurches uncertainly in tone from frisky nostalgia to fatalistic drama without really getting under the skin of one of the forgotten pioneers of British pop.
06/19/09
An entertaining, energetic and frequently offbeat biopic with a superb cast and a terrific central performance.
06/19/09
It took Nick Moran the best part of 12 years to get this made. And the end result's screamingly energetic, wildly uneven, gay as a goose and at times, utter genius. As a Joe Meek biopic, it's perfect.
06/19/09
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