Color Me Obsessed: A Film About the Replacements

Great fanboy adulation of a monumental American rock band, not sure if this would mean much to the uninitiated...but it's cool nonetheless. It's a loving tribute, done in back asswards style, that would suit the 'Mats shoot-themselves-in-the-foot sort of perverse way of doing things, which is to say, the band is not in this movie, nor is any of their music. But it definitely holds up if you loved and lived this band at any point in your life.

If you're not familiar with the Replacements, then perhaps by viewing this you might be able to get the idea that this band was amazing, special, beautiful, shambolic, brilliant, charming and rock n' roll. Otherwise, I'd suggest getting yourself a copy of Let It Be and let the transformation begin...

The movie also seems to be more about being a 'Mats fan than being about the band itself, it shows a good segment of their fandom which is mostly (now middle-aged) male record-store clerk, rock-critic types, a few musicians and producers and one or two former rock chicks.

There time was short, they burned bright...it was fun to watch...and the music was great, what more can be said?

I never saw them live. I was introduced to them when I heard "I'll Be You" on the car radio. Still love that song, and I'm grateful that it had enough production polish to get played on the radio. Otherwise, I would have missed out on The Replacements entirely.

"Color Me Obsessed" looks at the quintessential American punk rock band through conversations with the people who got to see and hear them firsthand. These people are unaffected and articulate in their expressions of love, respect and admiration--ironic for a band not known for being sober. Their enthusiasm is genuine and undiminished by the passing of time.

That's what makes this movie so refreshing and uplifting, even as it chronicles four Minnesota youths living on the edge physically and artistically for ten years straight. Alcohol abuse and self destruction are cliché in rock and roll. The Replacements and their legacy are not. So, yes, there is sadness, but there is also music that energizes and inspires the hearts of many (or the few, depending on how you look at it!).

Weird analogy: What "Vernon, Florida" is to turkey hunting, "Color Me Obsessed" is to rock and roll. Never mind.

Highly recommended!

I'll say this right off the bat, I think "The 2nd Greatest Story Ever Told", the first novel by Gorman Bechard, is probably the best book I've ever read. It's about God sending his 18 year old daughter to save us. Of course, she's a Mats fan.

So, it's 20 years later, and Mr. Bechard delivers us a documentary on who I believe to be the greatest rock band ever, The Replacements. And, as he said at the Tampa premiere (and if you read the novel, you'll believe him), he might not believe in God, but he does believe in the Mats. AND IT SHOWS! And while everyone else will recount here how it's great to hear all the stories and such (I do love Robert, the guy from the farm, and Bil MacLeslie is a hot older guy I could listen to for days!), I want to talk instead about the filmmaking.

It's a music documentary, people...WITHOUT ANY MUSIC! As the bumper-sticker for the film says, "Kinda brilliant. Kinda dumb".

In this case its 110% BRILLIANT! Mr. Bechard makes it work. That's filmmaking! In fact, aside from recommending this movie to Mats fan and indie rock fans, I strongly urge fans of independent cinema to see this film. Forget it being a music doc, forget it being about the Mats, it's plain and simple a great movie. It's about passion, it's about how art changes your life, it's about how a band becomes a part of your family, how their music is forever etched on your soul. PASSION! It will also teach you things about success and insecurity, and about how a small band from the Midwest changed the face and sound of rock music forever. (Really, I thought knew a lot about The Mats until seeing this film. They story about how "Tim" was named is hysterical!) Put aside any misgivings you might have about there being no music (really, it's not missed), and give two hours to a great filmmaker who will take you to a place you've never been before. It's brave. It's beautiful. It's unique and funny.

To paraphrase someone in the movie talking about their song "Hayday", I love this movie. I love this movie. I. Love. This. Movie.

This is the best rock doc I have ever seen. I watched this film knowing little to nothing about the Replacements. I left with a real desire to experiences their music. The film puts the stories together in a way that made me feel that I personally follow the replacements into the bars and not only heard their gigs but set down and drank with the Replacements before their sets, though you hear none of their music. Color me Obsessed took me on a carnival ride I want to get on and ride again and again. Though this film is essentially talking heads the director captivated me visually with the composition of each shot as he wove tales that I not only wished I was part of, but I willed myself to first imagine then believe that I was a part of.

Gorman Bechard puts his self-confessed passion for the 'Mats through the paces with this linear and thorough doc. Filled with revealing interviews about much of the lore surrounding one of the greatest American rock bands, and one that had an undeniable impact on what we perceive as modern or alt-rock today, Color... is Bechard's rock and roll love letter to a band that has still not gotten its due. It spends a good two hours recounting the glory days of the Minneapolis scene of the early 1980s through clips with fans, other bands and even minor celebrities who "were there when" or just flat out believe Westerberg and Co. were all that defines rock and roll. Bechard's decision to not include music, archival footage or even attempt to obtain either of those, though, is curious and ultimately disappointing. Sure fans of the band will love the insights and appreciate the info offered on some of the 'Mats lore. But they might also find themselves yearning for some kind of gems. I think, for instance, of the Rush doc, Beyond the Lighted Stage, I'm a huge Rush fan yet the film gave me info I never knew but also dug up footage and music never before seen or heard. That's what a rock-doc should do. Yes it's good to be inspired to "go out and discover (or re-discover) your fave bands, but frankly i don't have access to the dozens of people in the Replacements' lives who would be in possession of the material that would further my love of the band. Fans like to think they are know-it-alls when it comes to the bands they love. It is the duty of a doc-maker to prove we are not...that they are able to show us more about the band than we knew. Color... does that through its interviews, to be sure. But I also felt a little cheated. And you might too.