2021-12-06 – In “The Beatles: Get Back,” Peter Jackson demonstrates that the Fab Four absolutely knew what they were doing when they picked which song performances to release and which to throw in the trash. And while it is also clear that the Beatles did want the public to see the creative process, there’s no way they would have intended for the window to be eight plus hours long. Movies only ran two or three hours in those days. Even that’s too much. Jackson needed to learn a lesson from the Beatles and throw a lot more of his footage into the trash.

Many of the scenes are interesting, but, while it’s nice to lick the spoon when Mom bakes a cake, too much raw batter is bad for your tummy.

I give the series 1½ stars.

Jackson frames these recording sessions with a calendar countdown to the big event, but the countdown gimmick quickly loses it’s urgency when the scale of the big event goes from an epic seaside concert in an ancient amphitheater to a rooftop barbecue and the date keeps getting pushed back to “whenever we want.”

And the supposed “breakup of the Beatles” turns into remarkable unity in wanting to get out if the studio but not really knowing how to do it. The legendary rooftop concert is not their final concert because it’s not a concert. It’s a studio performance without a roof. They can’t even see, and can barely hear, the audience. The only thing that’s concert-like about the “event” is that they are finally playing their songs from beginning to end.

Although I am a Beatles fan, I don’t usually watch this kind of thing. I like listening to finish work and don’t care much about how it’s made. This time, I fell for the hype. It’s been 50 years and we’re still in the thrall of Beatlemania. And, with this pandemic, we all want to get out of the studio— but not too far out.

And we want to go to the big concert, but still don’t want to expose ourselves to other people.

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