RISE OF THE RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS: OUR BROTHER, HILLEL

Hillel Slovak and Cliff Martinez in TOUGH GUYS Documentary Date 2916 Rating: ****

At the end of THE RISE OF THE RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS: OUR BROTHER, HILLEL, both lead singer Anthony Keidis and bassist Flea say that people won't forget original lead guitarist and co-founder Hillel Slovak... 

Which would actually be impossible, because no matter what era of the band you listen to, his colorful punk/funk strumming fervor sustained with initial replacement Jack Sherman and eventual semi-permanent replacement John Frusciante, who's 11th hour praise of the late guitarist is one of the most beautiful interviews in any rock doc, punctuating how much of an influence the late funky player was... he set the pattern of the band's sound forever...

Hillel Slovak and the Red Hot Chili Peppers in TOUGH GUYS

And yet, beginning in a kind of old school prog-rock band, we never really learn how Slovak went from that 1970's chunky power-chord rock sound to the new wave techno sound of his in-between band What Is This to the funk-filled discovery of what glued the band together... 

That's most likely because he had passed away after their third album (HIS second with the band), and what's left are sporadic diary entries and a few words from his former girlfriend (a widow of sorts) and a lookalike brother... But mostly this doc centers on both Kiedis and Flea about how the band formed, and it all began with seeing Slovak playing in that band in high school... before either were musicians, or even wanted to be...

Hillel Slovak and the Red Hot Chili Peppers in TOUGH GUYS

Then kind of wisping through the beginning stages of the band's formation that included hanging out and getting stoned... which inevitably leads to a few rushed recollections of drug abuse by band members... Which isn't bad since things don't drag or get too wordy or preachy or melodramatic... nor does the doc rely on that kind of new author-intrusive device of the interviewees pretending to be shocked about something revealed by the interviewer...

The only genuine perspective comes from the two survivors of a band that blew up after a decade of LA nightclub punk-rock beginnings shown in a collage of interesting artwork and just enough music for what's both a tribute and testament.

Hillel Slovak and the Red Hot Chili Peppers in TOUGH GUYS

Hillel Slovak and the Red Hot Chili Peppers in TOUGH GUYS with Flea and Anthony Kiedes

Hillel Slovak and the Red Hot Chili Peppers in TOUGH GUYS with Flea and Anthony Kiedes

Hillel Slovak and the Red Hot Chili Peppers in TOUGH GUYS with Flea and Anthony Kiedes

Hillel Slovak and the Red Hot Chili Peppers in TOUGH GUYS

Hillel Slovak and the Red Hot Chili Peppers in TOUGH GUYS

 

HARLEM NIGHTS (1989)

According to the trivia for Eddie Murphy's time-period gangster flick HARLEM NIGHTS, the humor on set between himself, Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx and Della Reese were funnier than anything in the movie... That's more than trivia, it's an outright admission that NIGHTS suffers from being too complicated a plot for these comic actors to be able to pull off their characters while at the same time, being funny...

In BEVERLY HILLS COP, the fact that Eddie Murphy's best friend was murdered meant nothing during scenes when he would, for example, argue with a hotel manager about getting a room, or argue even harder with employees at a warehouse about why he's snooping around... There aren't many pockets within the rather cliche old-school gangster flick involving gangsters and crooked cops wanting to move in on the main characters (THE GODFATHER ring a bell?) for comedy geniuses like Pryor, Murphy or Foxx to do their thing... Being constantly stuck within the story, HARLEM NIGHTS is as claustrophobic to the audience as it was to the actors... a shame since there are some worthwhile moments and potential to be had... But Murphy was obviously over his head, mainly as director... His timing was off in both the performance and cadence/timing of the overall picture... So John Landis would have been a far better choice to put everyone else's pressure off Murphy so he can shine: see COMING TO AMERICA, another Eddie Murphy production, for all the proof you'll need...Or watch Ted Demme's LIFE, set during the same era only taking place in prison, and with a dream sequence involving a similar nightclub and you'll see that Murphy's juggling too many plates to serve-up a satisfying main course. Rates: **1/2