Chris Smith has become the Ron Howard of documentary filmmaking. He’s always picking subjects that bring something interesting to the table, that also have enough mainstream appeal to become a big deal, whether it be our current biggest movie star’s dad, cat royalty, or the worst glamorous festival of all time. Having already Wham! ed his way through an incredible 80s band, Smith goes back to the well, but this time, with perhaps the weirdest most surprising musicians of the era.
Ah yes, Devo. For a while I thought they were a British New Wave band. Chris Smith’s doc, however, shows us how very American they actually were. After witnessing the horrific Kent State shootings, Gerald Casale and Mark Mothersbaugh found each other, infatuated with the idea that the world was de evolving. The pair convinced Mark’s brother Bob (Bob 1), Gerlad’s brother Bob (Bob 2), and drummer Alan Myers to join forces and spread the devolving gospel to the masses, directly and ironically.
The most interesting point in Chris Smith’s doc is showcasing Devo’s inherent dichotomy. Yes, they were openly mocking and speaking about all the ills present in society; however, they were also some of the best musical boundary pushers in the business, drawing admiration from people like David Bowie. They were early believers in MTV, created art in various mediums, and deconstructed the concept of music in trail blazing new ways. For those coming to this doc because you love “Whip It,” you might end up turning it off because of how really esoteric Devo was for most of the group’s history, succeeding through commercial mainstream failure by finding a hardcore diehard rabid audience of fans. The band members themselves were constantly trying to balance the art with the message, making sure they were not compromising along the way. Not all of Devo was as cynical as the band name; raging success certainly make some of these guys question their goals.
Which brings us to our documentarian. Chris makes the choice to let the band and their eons of footage do the talking. But as the steward of that footage, this Devo doc feels…too safe. Yes like all bands, they went through a rise and fall (though not really drug related this time, thank goodness!), and Smith convinced the living band members to really talk their weird red hat wearing heads off to clear up the perspective. But I was hoping Smith would take a more progressive, avant garde approach that Devo deserves, like what Todd Haynes did with The Velvet Underground. Or hell, even Morgan Neville tried with Pharrell. What’s there frames the band clearly, but I was hoping a band that really believes in its art could have been just a smidge more artistic than we got here.
But Devo is still worth it to experience that unique style only they possess. Let’s see if Chris Smith will complete his “80s group retrospective” trilogy. But who will it be? I’m hoping for soft cell, or maybe Eurythmics? Yeah, Eurythmics! If only so I can get 5 minutes on one of the greatest early music videos with star power: Walking on Broken Glass.