Jimi: All Is by My Side

Forty-four years after his death, he is still recognizable by his first name alone. Yet Jimi Hendrix remains an enigma, which might explain why Jimi: All Is by My Side is both fascinating and frustrating.

The directorial debut of Oscar-winning screenwriter John Ridley (12 Years a Slave) is not a conventional rags-to-riches biopic of the guitar legend, but it does provide some moderate insight into his early career both on the stage and behind the scenes.

It chronicles Hendrix (Andre Benjamin) for one year ending in 1967, before he achieved his greatest fame prior to his 1970 death from a drug overdose. Specifically, the film charts his early blues influences as he plays small clubs waiting for a breakthrough. Once that comes, he moves from New York to London with his girlfriend (Hayley Atwell), where the interracial relationship faces turmoil from racial tensions at the time and from Hendrix’s temper. But that doesn’t derail his talent or rise to prominence.

Like the recent James Brown biopic Get on Up, the film provides a showcase for a sensational performance that helps to smooth out the rough spots. In this case, it’s Outkast rapper Benjamin who, despite being much older, expertly captures Hendrix’s voice and mannerisms in a performance that is more than mere mimicry.

The chronological constraints in Ridley’s screenplay only leave room for snippets about his childhood or how he learned the guitar. That lack of context can be frustrating, and so can the lack of Hendrix’s most popular tunes on the soundtrack due to issues in acquiring the rights.

The film shows how Hendrix’s flamboyant stage presence contrasted with his quiet and reserved demeanor at other times. “I want people to feel the music the same way I see it,” he explains in a statement that captures the philosophy of a musician who gets lost in his art and struggles to embrace fame.

Some of the name-dropping — Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker are among them — will have a nostalgic appeal for rock fans of a certain age, even if the supporting characters are thinly sketched. The gritty visual texture yields an adequate re-creation of the period.

Ridley clearly has some reverence for his subject, and even if the film exists in a gray area between fact and fiction, it deserves credit for creating its own rhythm, much like Hendrix himself.

Rated R, 118 minutes.