JIMI: ALL IS BY MY SIDE

(director/writer: John Ridley; cinematographer: Tim Fleming ; editors: Chris Gill/Hank Corwin; music: Danny Bramson /Waddy Wachtel; cast: André Benjamin (Jimi Hendrix), Hayley Atwill (Kathy), Imogen Poots(Linda), Ruth Negga(Ida), Andrew Buckley(Bryan “Chas” Chandler), Adrian Lester (Michael X), Burn Gorman (Michael Jeffery); Runtime: 116; MPAA Rating: R producers: Sean McKittric/Brandon Freeman/ Nigel Thomas/Danny Bramson/Tristan Orpen Lynch/Jeff Culotta/Anthony Burns; Xlrator Media; 2013)

“The biopic rocks. It’s all-in on atmosphere, and unconcerned with putting out a laundry list of his conquests or getting things accurate.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

John Ridley(“Cold Around The Heart”), who wrote 12 Years a Slave, helms this thoughtful meditation docudrama on the electric guitarist Jimi Hendrix (André Benjamin-OutKast). The story begins in 1966, in NYC, where the Brit model Linda Keith (Imogen Poots), the 20-year-old socialite girlfriend of the Rolling Stone Keith Richards, begins an affair with him. When Jimi left for London, his career took off. He soon dumps a pissed Linda for the feisty Kathy Etchingham (Hayley Atwell).

The film covers a year in Hendrix’s life from 1966-67 as an unknown backup guitarist playing New York’s Cheetah Club to being a big deal at the Monterey Pop concert.

Though much is left out about his life, including his great songs, drug use and the issues that led his death at 27, the intimate pic has plenty to say about his year in London and the relationships developed there.

The biopic rocks. It’s all-in on atmosphere, and unconcerned with putting out a laundry list of his conquests or getting things accurate.

REVIEWED ON 5/24/2017 GRADE: B