Just a shot away

20 Feet from Stardom

Crit

So, maybe a year ago I tracked down the answer to a question I'd long wondered about. But Merry Clayton herself tells the story way better than Wikipedia: she gets a call late at night, some English group is in town, the Roller-somethings, and she needs to come to the studio. So she puts a mink coat over her silk pajamas and leaves her curlers in--she's way pregnant, so she's not gonna get dolled up at that hour--and shows up to wail, repeatedly, 3 of the most haunting, blood-curdling syllables in the annals of rock & roll. Then goes home.

This is a magical, a magnificent, but also a conflicted film, torn between being-a-solo-star-doesn't-matter-as-long-as-you're-true-to-your-soul-and-to-you-music and I-wanted-to-be-a-star-dammit-and-should-have-been. Darlene Love had to suffer Phil Spector's abuse and thievery of credits, but eventually found a useful late-night patron. Lisa Fischer, maybe the purest voice of anyone in the film, seemingly never hungered for the spotlight. Lots of stories, and lots of ways to define success. But mostly, lots of song.