A remarkable trip back to glam

Rating: 8/10 (8 November 1998)

Forget the comparisons to Bowie, or Iggy, or other real life characters. This is a well-drawn snapshot of the rise and fall of a gorgeous _fictional_ glam-rocker, replete with fully realized characters, gorgeous scenery and make-up, and a healthy dose of the sexual ambiguity that made the era so unpredictably fun.
Rhys-Meyers is stunningly attractive, and Ewan McGregor is transcendent as the heroin using rocker experiencing his decline and fall and rise. Bale is multi-faceted as the tormented gay youth, ashamedly aroused at the very sight of the elegant "Maxwell Demon" and still wrestling with issues later in life as a reporter.
See it with an open mind, leave your homophobia at home, and enjoy a trip back to the glamour days of glam-rock, and Todd Haynes guided tour of the glam-psyche.