With the rise and horrifying fall of the tragic star still relatively fresh, this Amy Winehouse biopic is respectful enough to the point of merely hinting at the sad depth of her troubles. An excellent cast does its best with some awkward dialogue, with Jack O'Connell giving the standout performance as her cocky but destructive soulmate Blake - here Danny Dyer via Dermot O'Leary - and Lesley Manville touching as her beloved grandmother, whilst Marisa Abela plays Amy with a largely unexpected softness. The film positions Winehouse as a mix of child-like waif and an old-out-of-time jazz-loving soul as she starts out, both dismissive of, yet utterly dependent on, the feckless men in her life. Her songwriting is used a a literal record of her life experiences, and the film does a good job of contextualising some of the key numbers. Camden is used well as her stamping ground backdrop, but Amy's parents remain oddly shadowy figures. The Shangri-Las are purposefully referenced as evoking the tragic melodrama that became Winehouse's later life, but what maybe should have been sharp and harrowing to watch plays more like a 2000s re-run of The Rose.
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