Mayor Of The Sunset Strip (USA, director George Hickenlooper): Rodney Bingenheimer is short and kind of funny-looking. He also knows just about everyone in the music business, from David Bowie to Cher to Coldplay. This film explores how Rodney’s love affair with the famous took him from groupie to disc jockey at Los Angeles’ famous KROQ. Along the way, he worked as Sonny and Cher’s gopher, acted as Monkee Davy Jones’ stand-in, and opened his own club (Rodney Bingenheimer’s English Disco).
This is the second film I’ve seen this weekend that explores our fascination with fame and the famous. But where I Love Your Work tried (and in my case, failed) to get us to sympathize with the movie star, this film had no trouble getting us on Rodney’s side. After his parents divorced when he was three, Rodney lived with his mother until she pretty much abandoned him as a teenager. His search for a surrogate family took him to Los Angeles in the mid ’60s, where his innocence and small stature made him irresistible to hippie girls.
The scenes which were hardest to watch were of Rodney spreading his beloved mother’s ashes from a boat in England, and of his unrequited love for his “friend” Camille.
The soundtrack is also a great collection of the classic and the downright wacky. I hope his friend Ronald Vaughan’s band “Isadore Ivy: Spaceman-at-Large” is included.
As an added bonus, Rodney was at the screening, and though not comfortable with all parts of the film, he must be applauded for his willingness to let the film show him as he is. The only sad thing is that he’s down to one three-hour shift a week at KROQ, and he’s clearly aware that he’s not as “hot” as he once was. It’s like his family is abandoning him all over again. Sadly, that’s the nature of fame. It’s just not possible to find unconditional love among those hungry for stardom.
(9.5/10)
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