The Sparks Brothers

Directed by Edgar Wright, The Sparks Brothers explores the music careers of brothers Ron and Russell Mael and their decades-long efforts at transforming their band, Sparks, into a mainstream success. Filmmaker Wright delivers an often insanely comprehensive documentary that progresses through the band’s catalog of two dozen albums record by record, and although plenty of this stuff is admittedly quite interesting, The Sparks Brothers‘ 140 minute runtime (!) paves the way for a hit-and-miss midsection that’s hardly as tight or streamlined as one might’ve preferred. It’s clear, then, that the picture benefits substantially from its myriad of eye-opening, intriguing stretches, including a fascinating segment detailing the band’s efforts at performing each of their albums live over a three-week period, and it goes without saying, too, that Wright does a superb job of detailing the creative process behind the development and recording of Sparks’ impressively innovative body of work. (It doesn’t hurt, certainly, that the movie boasts interviews with many of the individuals responsible for Sparks’ prolific output, as well as an irresistible roster of such familiar faces as Patton Oswalt, “Weird Al” Yankovic, and Mike Myers.) The end result is an exhaustive (and exhausting) piece of work that’ll undoubtedly fare best among Sparks’ most die-hard fans, and yet it’s equally apparent that Wright’s go-for-broke sensibilities ensure that The Sparks Brothers is generally far more entertaining and engaging than anticipated.

*** out of ****