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Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields

  NR

Kerthy Fix & Gail O'Hara

View More In Music Documentaries

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Plot Summary

Songwriter Stephin Merritt is known as "the Cole Porter of his generation" for his memorable melodies, lovelorn lyrics and wry musical stylings. Shot over a period of 10 years, "Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields" explores his friendship with his longtime bandmate and manager Claudia Gonson. Through his recording and songwriting process, the film traces a 20-year career that has yielded one of the most engaging bodies of work in the contemporary American songbook.

Credits

Rotten Tomatoes Movie Reviews

TOMATOMETER

76%
  • Reviews Counted: 29
  • Fresh: 22
  • Rotten: 7
  • Average Rating: 6.7/10

Top Critics' Reviews

Fresh: If you respond to the morose grandeur of Mr. Merritt's music or are drawn to his downtown gay-bard persona -- owlish yet waspish -- then it's likely that you'll be engrossed by this documentary. – Mike Hale, New York Times, Oct 27, 2010

Fresh: A laconic, noodling documentary, Strange Powers: Stephen Merritt and the Magnetic Fields pecks gently at that shell but makes little effort to get underneath. – Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly, Oct 27, 2010

Fresh: Clearly, the directors have to be Merritt advocates to hang in there that long, but the film that resulted has elements that keep it from being simply a fan's notes. – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times, Nov 5, 2010

Rotten: This portrait of the famed indie rock composer-musician is for fans only. – Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter, Nov 5, 2010

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