“Made in America” is a concert film where you never get to hear an entire song by any of the many groups performing.
It’s cluttered with backstage interviews with everyone from the artists who appear on stage, to the road crew, to a single mom/entrepreneur trying to launch her food truck business based on feeding the crowds, to a crabby little old lady whose apartment overlooks the Philadelphia park where this annual concert is held. She’s irked by all the “thump thump thump,” she gripes.
Then soul crooner Jill Scott pipes up, in the distance.
“See?” the apartment lady marvels to director Ron Howard. “That’s not bad.”
The Oscar-winning director hurled several camera crews at the first “Made in America” show, in 2012, trying to capture the diffuse musical political positivity that inspired rapper/producer/impresario Jay-Z to launch this concert series in a presidential election year.
He gives Jay-Z many opportunities to express how music brings people together, how this show is meant to let America see “how far we’ve come, accepting all cultures.”
Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, one of the featured acts, talks about how the ugly state of politics today “is like bad weather,” and “people deserve clear skies.”
But Darryl McDaniel, the “DMC” of Run-DMC, gets the definitive word on the why and how of this show, which is now an annual event in Philly and Los Angeles.
“Music succeeds where religion and politics fail.”
The concert is a sampler that captures both music’s recent past, its present and possible future — snippets of Jay-Z and Pearl Jam, a warm Run-DMC reunion, rockers The Hives playing in tuxedos, spirited performances by blues-rocker Gary Clark, Jr., Rita Ora, Santigold, Mike Snow and DJ Skrillex. Ron Howard even gets a DJ lesson (not really) from Skrillex.
The wide range of genres and styles probably condemned the film to its sketchy brevity. But Kansas City throwback Janelle Morae, who fronts a big band and seems to channel the late James Brown in her performances, stands out.
Backstage, Morae explains her black and white wardrobe as her “uniform,” coming from a family of custodians, maids and garbage men. Some of the other “rise above my circumstances” stories ring hollow — Santigold’s parents were the ones who rose up from poverty, giving her a nice life and the option of music as a career. And Mike Snow’s “Eureka” moment, working at a summer job at a country club, deciding NOT to go to law school? Laughable.
But one of the security guys sums up the “gig” economy facing today’s young people better than any economist.
“You’ve got to have more than one hustle, today.”
As ephemeral as music styles and tastes are, a two year-old concert film has more historical value than it does currency, so hearing Run-DMC talk about their big break, or hearing elder statesman Jay-Z pronounce the DJ-driven “EDM” (electronic dance music) as “the music of the next generation, they’re claiming it as theirs,” is interesting. Some of the profane hip hop acts seem dated in the sea of upbeat soul, pop and alt-rock acts presented here. But Pearl Jam and Run-DMC, inspiring joyous sing-alongs to their hits, just seem timeless.
MPAA Rating: unrated, with lots of profanity
Cast: Jay-Z, Pearl Jam, The Hives, Jill Scott, Santigold, Janelle Morae, Rita Ora, Run-DMC
Credits: Directed by Ron Howard. A Phase Four Films release.
Running time: 1:33