As a huge fan of Green Day and absolutely being in love with their album American Idiot after many years, I was actually really intrigued when I heard the album had been adapted into a Broadway show. I finally got the opportunity to see the touring production of the show a few weeks ago when it came to D.C. While I didn't find it to be anywhere as great as some of the fans had made it out to be, I would say for the most part I found it to be an enjoyable, if flawed show. After seeing it, I found this documentary and thought it would be an interesting watch.
Now the description for the film makes it sound as it's mainly going to be covering Billie Joe Armstrong's transition to Broadway when he performed the role of St. Jimmy back when the show was in New York City. While this is certainly there, I would say the description for the film is slightly inaccurate as most of this is seen towards the end of the film. The film runs for a short 80 minutes, but it still gives a great behind-the-scenes look at the production of the show featuring many interviews with Green Day themselves and the producers and cast of the show along with music from the band a show as well. It starts by taking a look back at the production and release of the original album itself along with the early steps that were being taken to adapt it into a Broadway show. It then goes on to show the production of the actual show and Green Day's involvement with it. We then get to see the success of the show as it goes to NYC and Armstrong's transformation to acting.
As a documentary, this provides for the most part exactly what viewers will want to see. The film consist of a great collection of interviews and footage of production and the actual show itself. It was nice to see the band get time to talk about the production of the original album and the production footage of the Broadway show is great and covers everything from the songs to the set design. It's also a real treat getting to see actual footage of Armstrong performing as St. Jimmy in the show.
While this a very good documentary, I can't quite say it's great. The main problem is all the footage here is painting the show in a very positive light and doesn't show any of the difficulties or troubles of the production of the show. I find it hard to believe there weren't any and would've liked to see some of that stuff going on behind the scenes as a documentary should instead of just focusing on all the good stuff. I also will admit I got tired of hearing Michael Mayer after a while as he seemed a bit full of himself.
Despite my small complaints, Broadway Idiot is still a very good and entertaining documentary that in it's short running time gives just about everything fans of the show will want to see! Even if you weren't a fan of the show or have never even heard of it, you still might enjoy it as it provides plenty of great footage that will keep the viewer intrigued as any good documentary should!
