Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, May 14, 1994                   TAG: 9405140020
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SONGS CAN'T SAVE `BACKBEAT'

The film is writer-director Iain Softley's first feature. His background in commercials and music videos is obvious, and he uses that visual sense to recreate the early days of The Beatles and the world of 1960-62. He's remarkably successful in capturing the energetic look and sound of those revolutionary times.

Many viewers may not be familiar with the band's roots. As the film begins, 19-year-old Stuart Sutcliffe (Stephen Dorff) has just decided to drop out of art school and try his luck in the music business as a bass player. He joins his friend John Lennon (Ian Hart) and the rest of the newly named Beatles - Paul McCartney (Gary Bakewell), George Harrison (Chris O'Neill) and drummer Pete Best (Scot Williams) - when they go to Hamburg to play in a striptease joint.

There they meet artist Klaus Voorman (Kai Weisinger) and photographer Astrid Kirchher (Sheryl Lee). Stu and Astrid fall in love, upsetting his already shaky relationship with the other four.

That is the central conflict the film and there isn't much more to it. The script posits an ill-defined homosexual attraction between Stu and John; sometimes repressed, sometimes more overt. It also attempts briefly to portray John as the villain of the piece, a rising star who'd sacrifice his friends to his ambition. But that doesn't ring true either.

In the end, this is the story of a young man who couldn't decide what he wanted to do and whose life ended early. He was on hand when some important musical events took place, but he was never really a part of them. Because that part of the film is so thin, "Backbeat" is not emotionally involving.

The songs are. To capture the band's untrained energy, music producer Don Was brought together a group of hot young performers - Greg Dulli, Don Fleming, Dave Grohl, Mike Mills, Thurston Moore and Dave Pirner - to redo the Beatles' versions of rock standards. On "Long Tall Sally," "Money," "Please Mr. Postman" and several others, they're loud, bawdy and rough.

If the whole film were as much fun as the nightclub scenes, "Backbeat" would be a masterpiece. But between the songs, there's simply not enough to keep it moving.

Back Beat ** 1/2

A Gramercy release playing at the Grandin Theatre. 98 min. Rated R for nudity, sexual content, strong language.