Control is a movie about Ian Curtis of Joy Division. That's all I needed to know. Joy Division's music alone deserves 5 heart twisting, arm flailing butters. On top of that, its a movie of one of my favorite genres- 'the musician who died too young', I HAD to see it. Its a weakness. Like Corn Nuts. I even liked The Buddy Holly Story where Buddy Holly was inexplicably played by Gary Busey of all people. Loved it. La Bamba? Sweet Dreams (the Patsy Cline movie)? Selena? Loved it. Amadeus? Sid and Nancy? Really loved it. If you throw any more at me, I'd probably love it too (with exception of The Doors- hated it). But Ian Curtis?? Oh yeah. If you're unfamiliar, you might have heard of this song.
First of all, it had plenty of music, a must for this genre. Mostly Joy Division but also their influences. The actor playing him was a pretty decent singer. At times, he sang a little more like David Bowie than Ian Curtis though that's quite forgivable. He also could've practiced a little more on Ian Curtis' signature dance moves- close but he looked a little too awkward doing it. And not awkward like Ian Curtis but as if he was questioning himself as he did it, like thinking- 'he really danced like this?' Yes, he did. The guy who played him on 24 Hour Party People should have given him lessons.
Of course it had its moments of cheese- like the sad sappy violins at one point or playing Love Will Tear Us Apart in the background after, duh, a love spat. Too obvious. But I thought the movie was good overall. Its a pretty simple story with a rather sad ending. It's also in black and white which is very appropriate and completely works with the music.
One of my friends thought it sucked- he said it was an obvious bio-pic. But many Joy Division fans aren't aware that most people don't know who Ian Curtis is, much less his story. But I liked it. Because I'm mushy. And even though Ian Curtis appears to be a lost jerk at times, I still broke down in the end. Really sad stuff. Maybe not La Bamba sad, but pretty tragic all the same. This movie gets 4 pasty faced butters.