10 Worst Rock Music Film Biopics Ever
3. CBGB
CBGB is is an inaccurate mess of clichés and caricature. Biopics should never be confused with documentaries. We all want to feel like we’re getting a sense of the real person behind the star and seeing their true story but ultimately movies are entertainment.
Timelines are often fudged to suit the narrative or characters get conflated and events skipped to keep the film down a manageable length. We have come to expect the occasional inaccuracy, but CBGB pushes this to breaking point.
It might be nit-picking to point out CBGB depicts Patti Smith playing “Because The Night” five years before she wrote it, but we need to draw the line at The Ramones playing a Joey Ramone solo track from 2002. It’s not as if The Ramones didn’t have any other decent songs to choose from.
The legendary bar was a launch pad for bands including Television, Blondie and Talking Heads. It’s a pretty cool selection of acts but the film for some reason feels the need to throw in Iggy Pop, who never performed at CBGB. Also, the filmmakers faced criticism for whitewashing the club’s history, presenting only Caucasian musicians.
There’s a great story to be told about the iconic New York rock venue but this isn’t it. It’s worse offence is taking a film about such wild, exciting music and people and turning in such a rote, bland retelling of events.