A documentary featuring Jay-Z, Beyoncé Knowles, Pharrell Williams, and others. Rated 14A.

Rapper Jay-Z's story is the ultimate rags-to-riches tale. Raised in a housing project in Brooklyn by a poverty-stricken single mother, Jay dabbled in drugs, crime, and violence before turning to music. Through his talent, intellect, and sheer determination, he managed to obtain the American Dream. In the past eight years, he has done it all: he's released 10 multiplatinum albums, won Grammy awards, and founded both a record label and a clothing line. He has his own shoe and his own sports club. On top of all that, he's dating the hottest pop star around, Beyoncé Knowles, who debuted her solo career with a scorching single featuring Jay himself. Late in 2003, at the absolute top of his game, the Jigga man announced his retirement and set a November date for his farewell concert in New York. The show sold out in two hours.

Fade to Black --which is directed by Pat Paulson and Michael John Warren--chronicles that evening, touting itself as the story behind Jay's journey "from Marcy Projects to Madison Square Garden".

If only that was the case. In actuality, the documentary is an awkward pastiche of slick concert footage and random shots of J. Hova backstage and in the studio. Although the retirement show was clearly a special performance--with Jay joined by all manner of friends and colleagues, including R. Kelly, Mary J. Blige, and Missy Elliot--and the movie reveals a lot about the rapper's creative process, Fade to Black shares very little about Jay's personal life, his background, his character, and his rise to superstardom. Unfortunately, the film is long on glitz and glamour and short on narrative, leaving the viewer with a myriad of unanswered questions.