WHEN YOU’RE STRANGE uncovers historic and previously unseen footage of the illustrious rock quartet and provides new insight into the revolutionary impact of its music and legacy. Directed by award-winning writer/director Tom DiCillo and narrated by Johnny Depp, the film is an account of the band’s history.--©Official Site
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Reviews
The Guardian
Peter Bradshaw
“...weirdly gripping documentary...”
01/07/2010
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Empire Magazine
Kim Newman
“Writer-director Tom DiCillo (Johnny Suede, Living In Oblivion) compiles contemporary footage (including vivid sequences from HWY, an unfinished underground film Morrison starred in) and still images in this documentary, avoiding talking-heads retrospective interviews but keepingthe story going with wry, detailed commentary read by Johnny Depp.”
05/07/2010
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Time Out
Derek Adams
“Unlike so many other rockumentaries about dead stars, Tom DiCillo’s biography doesn’t lumber itself with voxpops from band members and friends. Instead, the story is told via a montage of fascinating and rarely seen archive footage. Meanwhile Johnny Depp offers one of the most authoritative narratives in years, proving that, when he’s past acting, he should consider a twilight career in audiobooks.”
01/07/2010
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The Independent on Sunday
Nicholas Barber
“Doing without the perspective that might have come from new interviews or talking heads, DiCillo has pulled together an amazing amount of archive footage, and written a brisk chronology of the band for Depp to recite over the top. He never gets beneath the skin of his subjects, but a tragic picture emerges of Morrison as a restless, conflicted, and, yes, highly intelligent malcontent.”
04/07/2010
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The Observer
Jason Solomons
“Much of this film about America's most "dark and dangerous" rock band consists of previously unseen footage. You wouldn't know that, though, unless you read the press notes. Somehow, it all seems rather familiar anyway...”
04/07/2010
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The Daily Telegraph
David Gritten
“This is a far better bet than Oliver Stone’s ghastly Doors movie.”
01/07/2010
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The Times
Wendy Ide
“A touch too reverential in tone and rather obviously in thrall to the mythology of Jim Morrison, Tom DiCillo’s documentary When You’re Strange: A Film About the Doors is nonetheless a watchable study of rock’n’roll stardom and excess.”
02/07/2010
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The Sunday Times
Cosmo Landesman
“...a rather conventional from-riffs-to-ruin account ...”
04/07/2010
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Total Film
Kevin Harley
“Poet or pretentious pillock? Whatever your take on Jim Morrison, The Doors’ sex-reptile frontman, his charisma helps electrify Tom DiCillo’s flawed but intermittently thrilling documentary.”
17/06/2010
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Variety
Rob Nelson
“Though vastly improved since its Sundance premiere, Tom DiCillo's documentary ode to reptilian rocker Jim Morrison and his mellower bandmates in the Doors remains a rather unenlightened trip. ”
28/04/2010
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The Financial Times
Leo Robson
“Only those fanatically interested in The Doors could possibly enjoy Tom DiCillo’s documentary When You’re Strange but they wouldn’t learn anything from it. And those who will learn something from it can have no interest whatsoever in The Doors. This leaves its intended audience somewhat unclear. ”
30/06/2010
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The Los Angeles Times
Randy Lewis
“Whether by DiCillo's design or through the process of vetting it through the oft-contentious committee of those who control the Doors' ongoing artistic and business dealings, the film rejects many of the principles of basic storytelling, skipping any modern-day interviews with the surviving members or others who could shine a light on why the band's music and Morrison's memory have so long endured.”
09/04/2010
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The New York Times
Stephen Holden
“...muddled, pretentious assemblage of film clips of the band shot between 1966 and 1971, with solemn narration by Johnny Depp.”
09/04/2010
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