My Dinner With Jimi
by Bill Fishman (dir.)
(Rhino; 90 minutes)
BY STEVEN ROSEN
Royale Watkins gives a charismatic, sexy and endearing performance as Jimi Hendrix in this wryly comic, sweet-natured reverse-Don't Look Back remembrance of a trip to Swinging London by California popsters the Turtles in 1967, at the height of their "Happy Together"/"She'd Rather Be With Me."
On their arrival, the night before Sgt. Pepper is released, wide-eyed Turtles singer Howard Kaylan (a very effective Justin Henry, child star of Kramer vs. Kramer) meets the Beatles, Graham Nash, Donovan, Brian Jones and Hendrix at a nightclub. More fan than rock star, chubby and poorly dressed and not especially hip, Kaylan is both an outsider and - because he has a pop hit - an insider in this rarified world. John Lennon (Brian Groh) is drunk and cruel, Jones (Jay Michael Ferguson) proves a gentlemanly fan of Southern California pop, Hendrix - not yet known in the U.S. - imparts wisdom during an alcohol-fueled dinner.
Made in 2003 on a restrictive budget by Bill Fishman (Tapeheads), with a screenplay by Kaylan that relies too heavily on narration, it transcends its limitations and feels real because of superb casting and acting. It casts a spell.
Special features: Commentary by Kaylan and producer Harold Bronson, short film about the Turtles' British trip.
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