It’s a little bizarre that Ron Howard, the friendliest filmmaker in Hollywood, would make a documentary about Jay Z and his Budweiser Made in America music festival, which is (supposedly) a super cool celebration of American diversity. Yet Howard, the former Opie, makes for an affably dorky conduit for the audience, using his aw shucks personality to show how all of your uncool middle-class dads can come to appreciate hip hop. While the Budweiser Made in America festival certainly sounds like a good time, even the presence of the word “Budweiser” in the title reveals that the film celebrates consumerism as much as it does individualism.
Made in America (the documentary) is a promotional tool, trumping the Budweiser Made in America festival as a culmination of America’s struggles and feeding into the image of Jay Z as both a consummate business man and impresario of cool. That said, Jay Z is pretty cool, and Howard gives us a number of slickly-produced performances from some very talented hip-hop, R&B, and indie rock acts (including Pearl Jam, D’Angelo, Janelle Monae, a reunion of Run-DMC, and the surprise appearance of Kanye West for a showstopping performance of “Niggas in Paris”). More than anything else, Made in America resembles an expensive, corporate remake of Dave Chappelle’s Block Party, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good time. If nothing else, it will be remembered for that one time Ron Howard and Tyler, the Creator (who makes his own videos) discussed the craft of filmmaking.
Made in America has already premiered at the festival, but will air on The Movie Network on October 11.
____
Alan Jones writes about film for Toronto Standard. You can follow him on Twitter at @alanjonesxxxv.
For more, follow us on Twitter @TorontoStandard and subscribe to our newsletter.
