That was an excellent one.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

In this well paced, very affectionate doco, Joe Strummer comes across as a very intelligent, spirited, charismatic man who wasn't perfect but had an impact on many people around the world. He very much made the most of his life, and was tough as nails yet artistic and generous. From a quite alienating childhood in boarding school, and periods in his 20s living in squats and drifting somewhat, he carved out his own path for others to follow. He was mentally strong, whereas his brother, from the same background, was not, and took his own life. Strummer realised he would have to make things happen because no one else would. Having started in dirty, sweaty pubs,the doco shows how very strange and hard to handle it was when Strummer and his bandmates won fame and fortune and played the huge stadiums. Unlike the Stones, they seemed to have an ethos that didn't adjust well to the popular scene. Srummer wasn't conventional in his instrumental or vocal or songwriting style, yet people loved him because he conveyed it with passion. As one interviewee said, he might have grown up fairly well off as the son of a diplomat, but he he wasn't a phoney. The format of interviewing friends and relatives around campfires -- combined with historical concert footage and interviews, montages and even cartoons -- works very well. Criticisms include that his girlfriends tend to appear and disappear with no explanation: one minute he's with the Bolivian girl, the next with a string of British blondes. Also, why no subtitles giving the names of all those people interviewed around the campfire? I guess we're supposed to be cool enough to just know them.

The Clash were one of the greatest bands in music history. No they weren't the Beatles or Stones or Zeppelin but they continued on the tradition of revoloutionizing the music and style of their times. Later they became true recording artists on Sandinista and Combat Rock. As it turns out fame got to them, just as it had the previous bands mentioned. Julien Temple's bio of Joe Strummer will not disappoint , as it portrays a man who definitely expressed the spirit of the band's anarchistic take no prisoners nature. Also as a movie it has great style , pace, and the intermingling of actual home film, with concert footage, and reminisces by colleagues works very well. The sound track would be nice to get.

Strummer's hippie past was a revelation, but overall this felt like crashing a wake. Campfire stories work best around the intimacy of a campfire. There were just too many semi-boring old friends anecdotes and too much filler stock footage. I love The Clash and Joe for not reuniting and selling their songs until now (FU Mick Jones), but this doc left me wanting..to relate more. Using campfire storytellers without proper explanation of who is telling the anecdote alienates the viewer to some extent. They should have been interviewed on their own. Even using Strummer's 'radio DJ voice' did little to glue the film together. And can someone explain all the flags flying behind the campfire scenes? After the awesome "Filth And The Fury" I hoped Temple could deliver. A Joe Strummer doc deserves better.

Julian Temple -- who filmed the Clash at one of their earliest rehearsals -- has assembled a truly impressive array of footage, including 8mm family films from Joe's childhood and a performance from the 101ers, his pre-Clash R&B/pub-rock band. There are interviews with Joe's squat-mates from the early 70s, Mick Jones and Topper Headon of the Clash, and numerous other people (musicians and other) who either worked with Joe or were influenced by him. My only reservation is that the movie might be overwhelming to someone who was unfamiliar with Strummer's work, or the broad outlines of his history, but I think even a complete novice would have to come away impressed by the sheer scope of Joe's legacy, both in terms of music and the influence he left on his friends and admirers.