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Performance

© FactoryGirl

Directed by Nicolas Roeg and Donald Cammell

1970 was a bad year. I don't remember it well, after all I was only six. If Performance is any indication, then 1970 was a very bad year.

Until recently I thought that the second worst film I'd ever seen was Eyes Wide Shut. Perfomance makes Eyes look like a masterpiece. I have decided to never again see a Nicolas Roeg film. I've never seen one I've liked so it's time I gave up. The Man Who Fell To Earth barely made sense, Trake 29 had way too many shots of Teresa Russell's ass but Performance is just plain boring.

Mick doesn't even make an appearance in the film until it is half over. Most people would agree that as an actor, Mick Jagger is one hell of a rock singer. He's never going to win an Academy Award. Still, playing a rock superstar who fell from grace and is now a hermit shouldn't have been much of a stretch. Maybe it's just that by the time Mick gets on screen I'd decided that I hated the movie. I hated the way it looked, I hated the camera angles and 60s symbolism.

For those of you who don't know the story: James Fox plays Chas Devlin. Chas is what in America would be called an "enforcer" but seems to be called a "performer" in England (or so the film would have us believe).Chas gets too big for his britches and his boss lets someone take him down a peg. This action culminates in a murder and Chas is forced to run.

Chas ends up living in the basement of an ex-rock star named Turner (Jagger). Chas is at odds with the "boho" goings on in the house but needs Turner to help him to create another look to use for a passport photo. This new passport will get him out of the country and to America. Unknown to Chas his friend is not his friend and he will not be going to America. Chas finally figures this out when it is too late.

The only thing about the film that would be of interest to Stones fans (besides the presence of Mick) is Turner's girlfriend who is played by Keith's then girlfriend Anita Pallenberg. Stones lore tells the story of Keith standing outside the studio waiting for Anita while she and Mick shoot a sex scene. Some people have said that they really had

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