You wait ages for a musician biopic; two come along almost simultaneously. We had Bob Marley: One Love, which failed to capture the true spirit of the reggae star, and now we have Back to Black, the story of Amy Winehouse, the powerhouse singer whose life was cut so short. Both stars had documentaries covering their story in great detail, so having a biopic seemed redundant. Winehouse’s story, in particular, is a tale we already knew as her every step was constantly splashed across the newspapers in the UK. So watching a film about those events leaves you with nothing new, apart from a movie that is incredibly dull, cliched-ridden scriptwriting and a performance that, while good, longs for you to hear the original voice.

Amy Winehouse, a girl from North London, is on the verge of making it into the music business as she is picked up by 19 Management and given an album deal. With the world at her feet and a second album that will send her into a world of superstardom, she meets a man who will change her life forever and spiral into self-destruction.

Director Sam Taylor-Johnson, who made the John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy, should be adept at making this kind of movie and possibly giving us a different slant on what we already know. Unfortunately, screenwriter Matt Greenhalgh, who has written the script of Nowhere Boy and the Ian Curtis biopic Control, seems to find nothing new in Winehouse’s short life, so they travel down the route of what is already out there in the public domain.

Deciding to take us on the journey from her first album, Frank, to her opus, Back To Black, Taylor-Johnson and Greenhalgh seem to have a list that they tick off, from her battles with her management, her heavy drinking, her relationship with Blake Fielder-Civil and her father, Mitch, and her idolising of her grandmother, a former jazz singer. If you have seen the excellent documentary, Amy, you will know about these things, and done in a much more exciting manner. Where the film does seem to be less uncertain is how to deal with the two men in her life, her father and her boyfriend.

We know that there were significant issues between Winehouse and Blake. Many put their relationship down to the destruction of Winehouse, yet here, Fielder-Civil is made out to be a much more sympathetic character, even to the surprise of the real Blake. He comes across as a charmer who goes with Amy’s mantra that she doesn’t care about the money or the fame, and yet, in real life, Fielder-Civil seemed to revel in the fact that they were photographed everywhere they went. The same can be said of her father, Mitch. Their relationship is that of a protective father to his little girl, yet it doesn’t seem to touch on how volatile their real-life relationship was. All of this comes across as fictional rather than factual. What doesn’t help is that Amy’s mother makes two brief appearances in the film and nothing more.

As you would expect, the performances from a very talented cast are excellent. As her grandmother, Lesley Manville brings much more sympathy than we should have for Amy, while Eddie Marsen is as good as Mitch. Jack O’Connell is as smooth as they come as Blake, but the real star of the piece is Marisa Abela as Amy. She captures the singer brilliantly, and there are moments when you forget you are watching an actress. She also sings all the songs, which is another negative for me. Abela does her best with the vocals, but it’s like watching a tribute act. If you watch a film about Amy Winehouse, you want to hear her sing the songs. She had such a unique voice that no one could copy it.

Back To Black seems to be a movie that doesn’t do Amy Winehouse any favours. It just ticks the boxes, is relentlessly bleak and ends up dull and forgettable. If you want to be moved, then watch the documentary. Maybe one day, someone will make a decent biopic of her life, but this isn’t the case.

2 out of 5

Director: Sam Taylor-Johnson

Starring: Marisa Abela, Jack O’Connell, Eddie Marsan, Lesley Manville, Bronson Webb, Therica Wilson-Read, Juliet Cowan, Sam Buchanan, Harley Bird

Written by: Matt Greenhalgh

Running Time: 122 mins

Cert: 15

Release date: 12th April 2024