Between his excellent Formula 1 drama Rush and next year’s nautical epic Heart of the Sea, director Ron Howard has taken an unlikely detour to make Made in America, a fly on the wall look at the festival created by Shawn ‘Jay Z’ Carter to showcase the appeal of multiple genres in today’s youth culture.
Held in Philadelphia back in 2012, the inaugural Made in America festival brought together a culturally and musically diverse group of artists including Jay Z himself, Run DMC, Eddie Vedder, Janelle Monae, Rita Ora, Skrillex, The Hives and many others from the worlds of hip hop, rock, soul and folk. With this level of talent, excellent concert footage is a given and there are some electric performances on display, though some are frustratingly cut short to move on to the next talking head.
However, the talking heads provide some compelling moments of their own, particularly Daryl McDaniels and Joseph Simmons, the surviving members of Run DMC, recalling a time when they used to rap over the beat of Walk This Way without even knowing the name of the band who sang it. Another of the film’s highlights comes from Janelle Monae as she explains her past and the touching reasoning behind her exclusively black-and-white wardrobe.
Howard’s approach isn’t limited to the on-stage talent though. Instead he takes a holistic approach, covering every aspect of the festival with insights from a stage hand, a sandwich vendor and even an elderly neighbour who isn’t into the ‘bang bang’ music that kids listen to these days.
While the other artists and behind-the-scenes talent are given their moments, there’s no doubting that the star of the show is Carter. His story is undeniably impressive, making his way from drug pusher to Grammy winning, multi-hyphenate music mogul, and this rags-to-riches rise is beautifully illustrated in a scene that sees Carter revisit his old Brooklyn apartment which sits just blocks away from the Barclays Center, a $4 billion stadium that he was set to open later that month.
While his story is the perfect example of the American dream, the film tends to treat Carter as a mythic, almost messianic figure, spending a little too much time discussing his various accomplishments. Nonetheless, his charisma makes him a watchable subject and the sentiment behind the concert – bringing together culturally diverse groups and attempting to help the local economy – is admirable.
Both in front and behind the camera, Howard proves to be a dab hand at the concert movie and an amiable on screen presence, providing beautifully shot footage of the artists performing as well as a natural interviewing technique and some fun backstage segues, including an impromptu mixing masterclass with Skrillex.
With Howard at the helm, Made in America is a technically accomplished doc with a good nature and good intentions, giving a full scale look at the goings on of a music festival while also showing it in the context of some larger cultural issues.
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