Making either a biopic or a documentary about a person who is still alive is very tricky. A lot of people do not want their demons exposed in a public way when he or she is still walking around town doing their day-to-day. When this is the case, the film often feels like a massive ego stroke, as we are repeatedly being told how important and good this person is. Instep Russell Brand, a person with a less-than-ideal past, who is given this treatment, which is a real shame. BRAND: A Second Coming glosses over the man’s problems so fast in place of telling us how he his sparking a political revolution, in the vein of Gandhi.
Then again, would you expect something different when the subtitle of your film is A Second Coming? It sort of implies a divine nature to your subject. It would have been fine had the title actually been an ironic one. But I think the film truly believes he has some kind of messianic power. Not necessarily a magical or religious power, but a real power for a collective change in people’s minds. The man has a self admitted ego, so crafting a film that serves only to boost that ego makes for a fairly unbearable watch.
I would not have minded so much had the ego boost been complimented with an equal examination of his issues. Brand is a recovering drug addict, and these are not your fun drugs. Basically, any insight we get into his recovery amounts to, “I did yoga.” We get no sense of struggle. He just was a drug addict one minute and recovered the next.
The same could be said for his marriage and subsequent divorce to Katy Perry. There is no insight into any of it. We never find out how they met, what they liked about each other, or what broke them apart. All we get is they were in love and she got too famous. In further ego stroking mode, the one clip we get of Perry portrays her as a vapid idiot. Nothing Brand did in the marriage was wrong.
The second hour of the film is Brand’s rise as a political activist, which cranks that ego to eleven. Now, I agree with a great portion of Brand’s political beliefs, so my problem here is not that. My problem is they present zero counter argument for his causes, as those on the opposite side are considered idiots. For something to be compelling, there needs to be conflict, but your bad guys need a reason to be bad guys. If you’re hero has an agenda that is considered flawless, it leaves zero room for questioning. It paints everything black and white.
A Second Coming is not without its very good moments, however. One section in particular is highly entertaining as Brand, on MSNBC, is seen mocking the panel of hosts for being horrible at their jobs. Similarly, seeing a young Brand in comedy skits that place him as an outrageous character in the real world are also fun. But these are two segments that were created outside of this particular documentary. They were Russell Brand at his most raw.
Rawness is what Brand specializes at. If you ever see his stand up, it is vulgar, over the top, and overwhelmingly politically incorrect. Director Ondi Timoner keeps everything too polished. Everything created explicitly for this documentary has a sleekness to it that contradicts Brand’s persona. There are intermittent portions of animation that feel out of place, and these glossy sections feel in direct opposition of what Brand is all about.
Russell Brand made a very public cancellation of his appearance at the premiere SXSW screening, to the point it was reported he wanted to get the screening cancelled. My guess is it’s because he’s a bit too afraid to have what troubles him up on the big screen (though that’s up for debate as a lot has already been revealed in his books). However, here he has nothing to worry about. His “messiah complex”, as he calls it, is not questioned all that much here. He is given a lovely treatment, showing how his politics and humanitarian efforts are helping people. And I am sure they are. As I said, I agree with a lot of what he is doing. That doesn’t make it a compelling documentary though.
