TIFF Movie Review – All Is by My Side (2013)

An unknown American backup musician heads to London, England where he transformers himself into legendary guitarist Jimmy Hendrix.

Catching the eye of the girlfriend of Keith Richards is a guitarist who is not making the best use of his talents; she shepherds his career and recruits a manger for him.  The decision is made that the club scene in London, England would provide the best opportunity for the musician to hone his craft.  The big struggle is for the emerging artist to invent a distinctive style while fooling around with women and drugs.

Writer-director John Ridley definitely has talent as he wrote the screenplay of 12 Years a Slavebut the ability seems to have evaporated when putting together All Is by My Side.  What should be a fascinating tale becomes one of excruciating boredom.  Musician turned actor André Benjamin (Four Brothers) wears the part of Jimi Hendrix as if it is a bad fitting wig.  All of the cast members seem to be out of tune with their roles with only Ruth Negga (World War Z) producing something resembling a spark to a performance.

Other problems are in the presentation as the movie felt more like a work print rather than a final theatrical version.  Images are inserted which are supposed be meaningful flashbacks but instead come across as lazy filler.  The inability to secure any rights to the music written by Jimi Hendrix hampers the production but the real stumbling block are the creative choices made by Ridley.