The life of Jimi Hendrix is worth telling on the big screen and yet we have only a TV movie to date about the short life of one of the greatest guitar players of all time. When news first came out that 12 YEARS A SLAVE writer John Ridley would be helming JIMI: ALL IS BY MY SIDE starring Andre Benjamin as Hendrix, my curiosity was piqued. But, when the Hendrix family refused to allow any of the late musician’s music to be in the film, my interest waned.
Now we have a look at the trailer for JIMI: ALL IS BY MY SIDE and while there is no iconic Hendrix music in the trailer, it looks a lot better than I anticipated. Set in the period of time before Hendrix became famous, JIMI: ALL IS BY MY SIDE looks like an interesting portrait of the time Hendrix spent in England before he became the icon he was about to be.
OutKast’s André Benjamin stars as Jimi Hendrix in this revealing biopic from Academy Award-winning writer-director John Ridley (12 Years A Slave). Covering a year in Hendrix’s life from 1966-67 as an unknown backup guitarist playing New York’s Cheetah Club to making his mark in London’s music scene up until his Monterey Pop triumph, the film presents an intimate portrait of the sensitive young musician on the verge of becoming a rock legend.
This movie represents John Ridley‘s first feature directorial job after writing the movies U-TURN, UNDERCOVER BROTHER, THREE KINGS, and RED TAILS. He won the Oscar earlier this year for 12 YEARS A SLAVE which will definitely help this movie get the boost for more people to see it. Hayley Atwell and Imogen Poots look perfect for the swinging 1960s in London. Andre Benjamin is a question mark, though. While he has acted before, here he seems to be trying very hard to seem like Jimi Hendrix rather than embodying him which can often undermine a project like this. Here’s hoping the full performance is better than the trailer lets on.
JIMI: ALL IS BY MY SIDE will hit theaters on September 26, 2014.
