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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Was it worth the long wait?, October 18, 2003
After six years of hearing almost non-stop hype about this film--how it chronicled the group's enthusiasm and energy at the beginning of the reunion and degenerated into more drug-addled
friction by the end--actually seeing it was a slight anti-climax. The biggest complaint is that half of the songs are
incomplete--some are only shown for one or two minutes, while others like "Ted Just Admit It" are complete but cut up and
interspersed with interview footage. The title cut is almost complete--and an amazing, sensuous performance--but the last two minutes, the CLIMAX, are cut for no reason at all.Because the priority of this film lies in the interviews and backstage madness rather than the music itself, one must ask if this was enough to justify the hype. Well, the interviews are OK, they concentrate mostly on Farrell (who is a scream sometimes, especially when he's pontificating on The Torah just after having had an orgy on-stage with ten backup dancers), although Navarro also gets some time to act like a silly rock star. Perkins and Flea are virtually ignored, although Flea does weigh in with some choice comments toward the end of the film, and emerges as the most likeable. There are a lot of celebrity cameos, like Vil Kilmer, Alyssa Milano, Anthony Keidis, etc. etc. and they enhance the celebratory nature of the tour, but nothing really pops out as essential except for a brief cameo by the legendary Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters in San Francisco. The group seem in their element in this city,
and it is when the film takes on a genuine freak/hippie vibe--rather than the inevitable MTV/Hollywood one--that their alternative ambitions seem most fulfilled. The biggest problem remains that complete performances could easily have been fit in; their cutting seems arbitrary. Which is a shame, since the tour--particularly the first three or four dates--was outstanding, with plenty of ambience, colorful clothing, masks, candles, incense, and the group playing at a peak. At the least, "Three Days" does capture the feel of Jane's Addiction at their most gleefully hedonistic, it's just that after two minutes of "Mountain Song" one is left wanting to hear the whole thing, which would only have been another two minutes or so! The bonus 40 minutes of footage is compiled much like the film itself, with the interviews dominating, although some nice rehearsal footage of ballads like "Classic Girl" and "I Would For You" manages to finds its way in there. In short, I would recommend it Janes fans, but with the caveat that this could have been an *amazing* work with better editing.
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~ Satellite Party
~ Jane's Addiction
by Dave Navarro
~ Jane's Addiction
