Buddy's Song (1991)

User Rating:

4.4/10   

Director:

Claude Whatham

Writers:

Nigel Hinton (novel)
Nigel Hinton (screenplay)

Release Date:

1 March 1991 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Music

Plot:

Buddy is an aspiring teenager who is a very good musician and has pressure to go further than his Dad's teddy boy rocker days...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel | Independent Film | Character Name In Title

Cast

Roger Daltrey	...	Terry Clark
Chesney Hawkes	...	Buddy Clark
Sharon Duce	...	Carol Clark
Michael Elphick	...	Des King
Douglas Hodge	...	Bobby Rosen
Paul McKenzie	...	Julius
Lee Ross	...	Jason
Nick Moran	...	Mike
Colin Peel	...	Glenn
James Aubrey	...	Adrian
Liza Walker	...	Elaine
Emma Amos	...	Dawn
Julia Sawalha	...	Kelly
Sandy Ford	...	Paul (Hi-Tones)
Tre Smith	...	Photographer (as Trevor T. Smith)

Runtime:

Netherlands:105 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:M | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Buddy Productions Ltd.

Trivia:

Last cinema feature of 'Ed Deveraux'.

Movie Connections:

Follows "Buddy" (1986)

Soundtrack:

The One and Only

Daltrey is the whole show!

I remember going to the cinema to see this film. Picture the scene. Me and something like three hundred screaming Chesney Hawkes fans, packed into a not exactly oversized auditorium. They must've come away sadder and wiser, because by the time the final credits rolled, they were all talking about how great "that old guy who used to be in The Who" was in the pivotal role of Hawkes's wayward dad! Chezza had been swept into the dustbin of history, and with good reason - his singing is fine, but he comes across as an effeminate pretty-boy with all the charisma and acting ability of a damp dishcloth. But Daltrey, he's a different story. I remember a review of this movie that praised his performance as "fearless and compelling", and that pretty much says it all!

The film is likeable enough, albeit hampered by a seriously lame, formula-bound script and flat production values, and there are interesting supporting turns from Michael Elphick and Sharon Duce, as Daltrey's dodgy best friend and estranged wife respectively, but Roger steals the show as the superannuated Teddy boy who can't - or won't - move beyong 'the day the music died', even naming his son after his rock 'n' roll hero Buddy Holly!

My favourite scene is a great bit of wish-fulfilment. A newly wealthy Daltrey takes Hawkes to a music shop where he bashes the hell out of an expensive Stratocaster, then waves a fat wad of notes in the clearly unsettled proprietor's face. Come on, who HASN'T wanted to do that, given that most music shops are run by meticulous, uptight geeks who have a coronary if you so much as breathe on the instruments?!

Not a bad way to spend a couple of hours, all told, but if you're not a Daltrey / Who fan, I wouldn't really go there!