The Importance of Being Morrissey

This was a reasonable documentary that caught up with '80s pop maverick Morrissey, who now lives in the lap of luxury in America. Still worshipped by legions of fans, lauded by trendy music critics and name-dropped by lots of recent bands, Morrissey remains a controversial and rather strange character. He proved in this documentary that he is still as funny and as acerbic as ever, although the music certainly isn't as fresh, vibrant or interesting as it was in the Smiths. The problem with the documentary, though, is that it demonstrated quite clearly that he still tends to stand against much more than he stands for. His devotion to vegetarianism has remained consistent, but his status as a political artist has no substance. He criticises Tony Blair and the Royals, just as he criticised Mrs Thatcher and the Royals back in his prime, but he offers no constructive, viable political views. He just criticises for the sake of it while living in opulence. He now represents the kind of wealth, luxury and smugness that his fans detested about his '80s pop contemporaries.

A funny, entertaining figure? Certainly. But a credible spokesman on the world's problems who should be taken as seriously as he obviously is by many? This documentary did nothing to quell my doubts about that.