Rotten Tomatoes: 96% There is something not quite right about Amy, the recent documentary which hones in on the tragic life of British singer Amy Winehouse, who died of an overdose at just 27. Despite the fact that it's being regarded as one of the best films of 2015, has won a ton of awards and accolades, and is topping more end-of-year film lists than it's possible to count, there's something inherently wrong with the movie. Something uncomfortable and exploitative, in all the ways that director Asif Kapadia's previous (and far superior) documentary, Senna, wasn't. Do people feel obliged to like Amy because it's tragic? Amy isn't a bad documentary - bad documentaries don't wind up with scores of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, after all. But it is a repetitive documentary, in which a fundamentally solitary point - that fame is not a good thing; that we should all be wary of fame; that fame and celebrity are dangerous - is repeatedly hammered at the audience. Over and over. In its relentless use of archive footage, it's not all that clear what Amy really set out to do as a piece of work, either; there is little insight inherent to the film, and we don't come away from it knowing anything more than we already did. It's hard to hate this film outright, but there is something off about it - a feeling of the unethical - that carries it from beginning to end. It's certainly one of the most overrated documentaries of the year - perhaps ever. Like this article? Agree or disagree with the choices? Which movies from 2015 do you think are vastly overrated? Let us know all your thoughts in the comments section below.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
