VIFF 2017: Clive Davis: The Soundtrack of My Life—now that's entertainment
(USA)
It may be a fluff piece from start to finish, but rarely has hagiography been so relentlessly entertaining.
There’s a lot here to fluff, with someone who started as a mousy lawyer with zero background in music and yet catapulted to the top of Columbia Records and later his own successful imprints. At 85, his career at picking winners (and No. 1 singles) is rivalled only by that of A&R legend John Hammond, who, in fact, brought both Aretha Franklin and Bruce Springsteen to Columbia, but is barely mentioned. Still, there’s no shortage of authentically nurtured careers here, ranging from Janis Joplin and Patti Smith to Alicia Keys and (God help us) Barry Manilow. The last came out of the closet long after Davis did, although personal lives are not much on display—with the exception of spectacular flame-out Whitney Houston, who treated Davis as a father figure, with all the attendant power struggles.
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