A rather likeable and very beautifully made documentary even if I hardly like or know of The Sparks Brothers. It was only one of their songs that I did like but had no idea that they had made 25 albums or even still made music. It certainly seemed that through the 80s and 90s there was little of anything good but that they did carry on and is really okay. I think the reason that Edgar Wright cares he takes to make the film and because a couple of musicians keep coming on and every, now and again, and still make some good songs.

'The Sparks Brothers (2021)' is a behemoth of a documentary that charts the entire, six-decades-spanning career of 'Sparks', an intermittently successful and always experimental band who've reinvented themselves more times than you could possibly imagine. Prior to hearing of this film, I'd never heard of the Mael brothers or their band; the only reason I (and I highly doubt I'm the only one) elected to watch the piece is because of its director, Edgar Wright. This directly relates to both the strength and weakness of the piece: its adamant desire to explore every single 'Sparks' album ever released. With a runtime just shy of two-and-a-half hours and a structure that basically repeats itself twenty-five times, it certainly isn't the most audience friendly of affairs. This would imply that its target audience is almost exclusively people already familiar with and fond of the band's work, but this actually isn't the case - at least, not as obviously as it may seem. See, the documentary doesn't really go into any depth when it comes to its eponymous brothers, their musical process or how they perceive the events the movie depicts. Instead, it essentially focuses on the reception of their music, conveyed primarily via an impressively eclectic array of talking heads who wax lyrical about the under-appreciated brilliance of 'Sparks'. Therefore, fans of the band will likely already be familiar with most of the stuff that the movie covers. At the same time, newbies like myself are likely to feel slightly overwhelmed at the amount of surface-level information that the flick throws at its viewers. After a certain point, it all starts to blend into itself and wash over you to an extent. Despite this issue, the movie is still quite a bit of fun. Sure, it starts to run out of steam at points, but it often shakes things up just enough to feel fresh - much like the Mael brothers themselves. Though its presentation is mostly rather standard (albeit impressive),it does have a cheeky sensibility to it and imbues many of its more expected elements with some subtle yet successful humour. The enthusiasm of everyone on screen is also evident and infectious. Sadly, I can't say that I recall more than a couple of 'Sparks' songs now and they play for pretty much the entire affair. This is likely a testament to the eclectic nature of their discography, which is consistently inconsistent in terms of style and tone. Still, the music is enjoyable, despite not being all that memorable. Ultimately, this documentary is slightly too long and almost too comprehensive for its own good, yet it has quite a bit of charm to it and remains entertaining pretty much for its entire duration. It's a solid effort. 7/10.

It always amazed me that unlike many other pairs of brothers in rock, like the Everlys, Davies and Gallaghers, the Mael brothers of Sparks never seemed to fall out or split up and have stayed together for well over fifty years, making music all the way through. In Edgar Wright's quirky, entertaining bio-documentary of the duo, while we're taken back to the brothers' origins, including their warm relationships with both their parents and how they were encouraged into music at an early age, even after the early death of their father, (who is the spit of adult Ron right down to his pencil moustache),we see them make their up and down way in the music business through to the present day.

For some reason however, the brothers hold back on their own personal lives in adulthood so that we're told next to nothing of any relationships they've had in their lives or whether they either of them have any offspring. It seems that even the out-there Maels like to keep some things private, which of course is their right, but still it seemed like a strange omission.

So, better then just to hunker down for their musical life and times which thankfully proved to be both eventful and entertaining. Vividly brought to life here by Wright. I really only know the band through their early U. K. success when they were briefly the hottest new glam-rock kids in town. They've been trying to recapture that success ever since through several albums and well over 300 recorded songs but without much more than passing success and yet they undoubtedly have a cult following which rises and falls it seems with every new release they make, Hopefully this award-winning, high-profile film will help them ride another wave of popularity, although it seems that the grounded Maels themselves are past caring, it being so late in the game now.

Wright, who was only born during the year of their first U. K. chart success, uses the enigmatic participation of the siblings themselves, coupled with original animation, much video footage of the group down the years and as is the norm in enterprises like this, video pieces to camera by superfans of the group, an unsurprisingly disparate group who include musicians Beck, Flea of the Chilli Peppers, British TV presenter Jonathon Ross and Wright himself. Thus they trawl sequentially through their albums one by one with it seems a different celeb stepping up on cue to explain how much a particular album by the band means so much to them.

Of more interest to me though was how Wright and his team managed to track down original band members and past collaborators going all the way back to their mid-60's beginnings. It's fair to say that no one really has a bad word to say against the two, even ex-band members and past record producers with whom they'd worked.

Listen, I don't think that this movie is trying to say that Sparks are up there with the major movers and shakers of pop music such as critically approved and commercially popular evolutionary artists like Bowie or the Beatles but in the broad church of pop, they undoubtedly carved out their own little niche and made some cool records and memorable videos along the way.

I may not quite have been encouraged enough by what I saw here to delve much more into their ocean-deep discography, although I'm wondering how I can resist album titles like "Whomp That Sucker", "Angst In My Pants" and my all-time favourite "Gratuitous Sax and Senseless Violins". Made with obvious love by director Wright, I thoroughly enjoyed investing two hours of my time to learn more about this fun, probably underrated band.

The town, in the end, may not have proved big enough for the both of them, but I for one am sure glad they didn't leave.