I saw Ron Howard’s Pavarotti today and it’s a 10/10. A virtually flawless film. And meets my criteria for films about great people…the film should be as big as the person. This was.
Rotten Tomatoes gives it 97% Audience and 88% Critics. I’m sorry what didn’t the critics like about the film? “It appears Pavarotti was too plump for his own good.” No, they were criticizing Ron’s handling of some of the material. Ron handled it fine. No problems, again flawless.
So that’s my neophyte review…perfect…blah, blah, blah…grand scale…blah blah blah…exceptional…blah blah blah.
But you don’t come here for that…you want the juice…you want the tender vittles…you want the hairy armpits of the miscreants…I know what you want… you want Gone With The Wind.
Let’s step back for a minute, Ron did a brilliant job directing the film but let’s get real…this isn’t exactly “Apollo 13”. Not once did Luciano float around in Zero-Gravity. It was some old footage, photos and some interviews…that’s it. Not exactly a role for a genius director.
And Luciano Pavarotti is one of the greatest singers/tenors of all time, very personable and his singing is 80% of the movie and 100% of the pleasure. But frankly Luciano’s career was much bigger than Luciano was…and boy he was a big man in every way.
So what’s the hit here, how does Ron Howard wind up getting put in charge of what is really a very simple directorial effort? Ron’s name even comes first, Ron Howard’s “Pavarotti”.
Answer: Ron was the genius behind Luciano Pavoratti’s meteroic rise to world acclaim; especially during the Rock and Roll years. He masterminded it. He directed Luciano himself for years and not merely this film!!!
Ron Howard is a genius…a true genius…sometimes an evil genius but he wouldn’t say that. He spots talent and sees the future and potential of that talent. His directorial expertise was in getting Luciano involved and performing with people and in settings that he otherwise would never have done.
Ron Howard would have arranged meetings with Rock Stars and concerts and putting people together in unimaginable ways with music that could never have been heard without him. Ron is a world-class promoter.
He is the power broker, the genius, and “The Man!” He’s got a giant rubber shark and it really makes the mark!
It doesn’t hurt that he is also “Sting” of The Police. And while Sting aka Ron Howard sat in the background during the film, he certainly was pulling the strings and calling the shots. He had the vision and the ability to carry through the vision.
Hence why is Ron Howard credited with this film…because he was the genius behind Pavarotti’s career and meteoric rise into the households of every person under the sun.
Ron Howard did not merely direct this film but he directed the larger than life career of Pavarotti because who else could have?
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