The Sparks Brothers - Review (Sundance Film Festival 2021)

This Town Ain’t Big Enough for Both of Us. 4.5 / 5

Directed by Edgar Wright.

Take a musical odyssey through five weird and wonderful decades with brothers Ron & Russell Mael, celebrating the inspiring legacy of Sparks: your favorite band’s favorite band.

Edgar Wright's debut documentary dives into the eccentric world of Sparks and their unbelievable career that spans more than 50 years and 500 songs.

Wright has always been one of my favourite directors so it was exciting and daunting to see him try something completely new. The Sparks Brothers has elements of his hyper-detailed visual style scattered throughout and is so energetically edited that the 2 1/2 hour runtime flies by.

Did it need to be almost three hours? I think though it probably wouldn't have suffered from a tighter edit to get it under the two-hour mark, there is a lot of story to squeeze in.

Knowing nothing about Sparks going in, this was a non-stop history lesson merging humour and personality into music with an insane amount of famous Sparks fans showing up throughout.

Sparks have such an extensive and influential career that it's astounding how overlooked they are. You get immersed in their world that continuously shifts and challenges the audience - their ludicrous story paired with Wright's precise eye makes for a documentary that pushes the boundaries and celebrates individuality.

Sundance Film Festival 2021: Ranked

​Read our latest reviews at: letterboxd.com/TheJackAling