Not Just a Girl

Not all documentaries manage to convey a story with both compassion and excitement. I'm a fan of Shania yet I managed to learn so much along the way about her struggle, her passion, her commitment and drive to succeed. I was a fan of her music before but now I am a fan of the artist, the woman. Excellent watch.

I enjoy watching documentaries but lately they have been portly written, they skip around time frames and they are way to slow moving to keep my interest. It's like they are just trying to fill up air space from the start to the finish. BUT not this one! This one was well done from the start to the finish! I learned a lot of things about Shania that I didn't know. She seems very down to earth and like someone you want to get to know better. Shania could've taken this opportunity to publicly speak ill of her ex and her ex BFF, but in true Shania form, she handled it with class. She's a fighter and an inspiration.

As "Shania Twain: Not Just a Girl" (2022 release; 88 min) opens, various talking heads are heaping praise on Twain. "She was a trailblazer across musical styles", comments one (correctly). We then go back in time to "Timmins, Ontario" where Shania grew up and at a young age (just 8) started performing in bars... At this point we are 10 min into the movie.

Couple of comments: this bio-documentary is directed by Joss Crowley, who has done a number of other music documentaries (involving Elvis Costello, Hall & Oates, and others). Here he looks back at the amazing rise of Shania Twain, who out of nowhere (and after a failed 1993 debut album) then released 3 albums in a row that each went diamond (more than 10 million copies sold): The Woman In Me (1995), Come On Over (1997) and Up! (2002), and then pretty much disappeared into thin air for the next decade plus. This documentary is completely straight forward and strictly by the numbers. Twain's musical and personal partnership with Mutt Lange, coincidentally or not starting with The Woman In Me, is of course mentioned but otherwise not reviewed in depth or otherwise questioned (Lange was 17 years her senior). Also not clear is why exactly Twain decided to move to Nashville in the early 90s. Bottom line: this bio-documentary is entirely free from any controversy, and as it happens also (or perhaps more accurately, hence) lacks much new insight as to the phenom that Shania Twain was. I saw Twain in concert just once, when she came to Cincinnati on her Up! Tour in 2004. The arena was sold out, and she put on a thoroughly professional "well oiled machine" performance.

"Shania Twain: Not Just A Girl" recently premiered on Netflix, and I just watched it the other night. If you are a fan of Shania Twain, be it a die-hard or, like me, just a casual fan, I'd readily suggest you check out this documentary, albeit with expectations in check, and draw your own conclusion.

I really liked this documentary. I am not a huge fan of Shania, I like most of her music and having time to kill I decided to give it a go. After watching Not Just A Girl, I have a lot more respect for her given all that life has thrown her way and how she managed to overcome it. You go Shania!!!

No pun intended and I am almost surprised the documentary didn't go with the song title. But the documentary is not focused on that one song (also she has quite a few hits under her belt). It is about her upbringing and how she evolved in the music industry. What her parents meant to her and how she broke through - what was expected of her mixed with where she saw herself.

It had been quite a while since I had her on my radar, but her influence on music is not to be disputed! And the documentary is clearly showing it. Now give me a Sheryl Crowe documentary too! She deserves one too for sure. Female music power ftw! Of course she gets compliments and nods from other celebrities and musicians ... a quite short documentary but one very well researched.