Dir. Jon M. Chu , USA , 2011, Documentary. Dur. 105 mins
Cast: Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Sean Kingston, Ludacris, Jaden Smith (as themselves)
Review by Carlie Newman
This charming documentary tells of the rise of young Justin from a video film of him singing as a small child, becoming a street performer in the small town of Stratford, Ontario in Canada and then his birth as an internet star through initial appearances on Youtube and onwards, until finally we see him as the global superstar he is today. The whole film builds up to a concert, which took place at the prestigious Madison Square Garden last year.
With contributions from his mother, grandparents and friends, as well as the vast staff surrounding him, we learn of his background and the life he leads today. The child of estranged parents, Justin was brought up by a devoted teenage mother, alone but with a deep religious belief – we see evidence of this later with Justin leading the lads in prayers before munching pizza and before a show. At eight, we learn, he played the drums really well and at 12 played the guitar and sang in public. Discovered and still managed by record-label impresario Scooter Braun with the singer Usher as his mentor, he is shown as a professional worker with a real musical talent.
The team around him include a singing coach and others who teach, cajole and demand work from young Justin – still only 16. He leads a strange life which is shown here, perhaps unwittingly, as Justin is one of the producers behind the film. The climax of the film is the Madison Square Garden show (which was sold out within 22 minutes of tickets going on sale.) We meet his really young fans, some looking about 10, as they wait to catch a glimpse of him or queue to get into his concert. It is somewhat frightening to see how they know intimate details about Justin’s personal habits and vow to always love him.
Try to see the 3D version, which gives us the immediacy of the concert as well as full colour, and shows Justin’s swinging hair in a more meaningful way! Obviously the film will appeal more to Bieber’s fans – of whom there are millions all around the world – than to the average movie-goer. But he is a sweet lad, although he might need to watch out for the even younger Jaden Smith (son of Will Smith), who joins him on stage and is extremely cute.
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