It Might Get Loud, the latest film from An Inconvenient Truth’s Davis Guggenheim, may be less earth-shattering than the director’s previous work, but it is no less profound. Considering the great impact guitar-driven rock has had on the world at large, witnessing three of the music world’s greats sitting on a soundstage and simply discussing their craft feels like a rare privilege.
Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), The Edge (U2) and Jack White (The White Stripes) all represent rock at different points in its evolution. Page is rock’s hedonistic elder statesmen, and the deference The Edge and White show to this rock god is completely endearing. There are numerous sequences that start as jam sessions but then turn into The Edge and White simply watching Page, the epitome of effortless cool.
The Edge, indicative of arena rock at its heyday, brings the camera to his old grammar school in Dublin, the place where he first joined the earliest incarnation of U2, and discusses the motivations and inspiration behind War, perhaps U2’s most profound album.
White takes viewers to Detroit, the place he first discovered music as a teenager, but neither his nor The Edge’s segments can really compare to Page’s.
White seems the most out of place among the three musicians. Surely accomplished and knowledgeable in his own right as an artist, he simply falls into the background when placed alongside The Edge and Page. The film, much like rock history itself, belongs to Page, and It Might Get Loud shows the rock legend proper respect.
Rating: 3.5/4 stars
Starring: Jimmy Page, The Edge, Jack White
Directed by: Davis Guggenheim
MPAA Rating: PG