The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys

Rating: 7/10 (7 August 2013)

"Velvet Goldmine" wisely makes itself difficult to pin down; to escape criticism, it self-inoculates. It's good to defy description, but let's try. The film is a depiction of the 1970s rock fad alternately known as "glam" or "glitter" rock. The New York Dolls (herein, quaintly represented by "Personality Crisis") were early proponents, but the Queen of the movement became David Bowie. This film's main player is Jonathan Rhys Meyers (as Brian Slade). He impersonates the Bowie-type role well, but the character is elusive and difficult to understand. And, what we have here is a conglomerate...
"Velvet Goldmine" is a Bowie tune. In a way, he did turn Lou Reed's "Velvet Underground" into a Goldmine. The plot structure follows Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane" (1941). Former glam-fan and present day reporter Christian Bale (as Arthur Stuart) assumes the storytelling role. He searches for Mr. Meyers, who vanished when disappointed fans learned his death was faked. Think about that for a moment and you'd vanish, too. Meyers is washed-up and somewhat slightly dazed. In the flashback scenes, Mr. Bale looks more amusing than authentic. Toni Collette (as Mandy) does well...
The other major player is Ewan McGregor (as Curt Wild). He's mostly Iggy Pop, but Mr. McGregor looks more like Kurt Cobain. This is probably a good thing, considering. McGregor does look better after taking off all his clothes, and he doesn't excrete anything on the audience. So much for realism. All of this is the brainchild of writer-director Todd Haynes, who nicely acknowledges glam grand-daddy Little Richard. Oscar Wilde also receives special attention. Everything in "Velvet Goldmine" looks nice but adds nothing bigger than the fact that Mr. Haynes is an excellent filmmaker.
******* Velvet Goldmine (5/21/98) Todd Haynes ~ Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Ewan McGregor, Christian Bale, Toni Collette