So much average

A Masterpiece!

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

This documentary follows Madonna on her 1990 'Blond Ambition' concert tour. Filmed in black and white, with the concert pieces in glittering MTV color, it is an intimate look at the work of the music performer, from a prayer circle with the dancers before each performance to bed games with the dance troupe afterwards. To be honest i do like Madonna as far as singing goes but as a person? She is kinda weird to say the least and this documentary proves that plus it was painfully boring even for a documentary about a person and that's a first. (0/10)

It's 1990 on Madonna's Blond Ambition Tour. She, her circle of dancers, and performers travel from Japan to North America and all around the world. It has behind-the-scenes as well as her concert performances. There are her friends and family. Her brother is hanging around and she goes to her mother's grave. In Toronto, the cops threaten to charge her for indecency. It's mostly filmed in black and white. The thing about Madonna is one is never sure about when the performance starts and ends. I doubt she's completely faking anything but she can be overly dramatic. When cops show up in Toronto, they do imply a threat but one can see a glint in her eyes where she sees an opportunity to rally around the first amendment. There is the dancer faux boyfriend and a girl claiming rape. One can never be sure about anything with Madonna.

As a simple concert video, this one is above average. But the title is very misleading. First let's deal with the 'truth' aspect. Madonna's friends pop in on her - Warren Beatty, Sandra Bernhart - but you get little in the way of glimpses into her relationships with others. You see Madonna playing Mother Hen to her backup performers, but you get the sense that she isn't very close to any of them. Thus, even though this is supposed to be an expose of Madonna's true private life, there is so little of this on screen that the audience is denied a genuine insider's view. And when Madonna deals with the business aspects of her tour, the boardroom door closes on the camera and the audience. This aspect of the life of a performer so well known for her product-image management might potentially be the most fascinating part of the tour, but the audience is kept outside. And compared to some of what Madonna has done on the screen, this is so far below her usual standards of shock as to hardly qualify as 'daring'. It is worth a watch, but beware of a stretching of the 'truth' when it comes to packaging.

Such is the case with me. Although, I don't NOT like Madonna, I don't really have an opinion one way or the other. So it was really hrd to be that into this. It is interesting to watch but if your not a true madonna fan, how into it are you gonna get? The people who I watched it with are in fact major fans which is probebly why they enjoyed it more. I do feel there were some interesting moments as well as some very touching ones. It wasn't bad as far as documentarys go. It just didn't do anything at all for me personally other then giving me a little gilmse into the life of a performer I was never heavily into anyway. However, if one is a major Madonna fan and hasn't seen thid they may want to, it was very definetly wellmade even if it didn't fascinate me personally.