'Back to Black' follows Amy Winehouse through career highs and infamous heartbreak

Amy Winehouse’s life was cut tragically short at 27 by accidental alcohol poisoning, a heartbreaking conclusion to the lengthy downward spiral that preoccupies the back half of director Sam Taylor-Johnson’s Winehouse biopic, named “Back to Black” in honor of the singer’s brilliant second album.

For all the pathos that entails, Taylor-Johnson also wanted this to be a celebration of her artistry. “Back to Black” does that as well, if largely due to Marisa Abela’s magnetic portrayal of Winehouse, which features her actually singing the songs, a daunting proposition that she manages to pull off admirably well.

What is 'Back to Black' about?

Winehouse is drinking alone in her favorite Camden bar when she meets Blake Fielder-Civil (an extremely charismatic Jack O’Connell), who introduces her to hard drugs and The Shangri-Las. He becomes her partner-in-crime, co-dependent enabler and husband, in no particular order.

The chemistry between the two is undeniable. Their toxic relationship, which ends in divorce, becomes a focal point of “Back to Black,” leading to some of the film’s most charming moments — it actually feels like a rom-com at times — but also many of his darkest scenes.

Other major players include Lesley Manville as the grandma/“everything icon” whose fashion sense Winehouse filters through The Shangri-Las, and Eddie Marsan as the father who’s clearly more concerned with her career than keeping her alive.

Criticism of 'Back to Black' includes letting Winehouse's husband and father off easy

It’s been suggested that her dad and Fielder-Civil are more sympathetically portrayed than they deserve to be, and that the movie could’ve used a few more documented instances of bad behavior on their parts, but neither one comes out of Taylor-Johnson’s movie looking like they did their best by Winehouse, much less a rose.

The media, who stalk Winehouse as they chronicle her downward spiral in all its lurid tabloid-fodder detail, come off looking much worse than the people in her life whose actions and/or lack of action may have set her on that downward spiral.

The complexity of Amy Winehouse comes through in her biopic

Winehouse herself emerges as a tragic figure whose fiery spirit defined her as much as the vulnerability that fueled her finest moments as the vocalist who made you feel her heartache like it was your own.

As she snarls when Simon Fuller’s 19 Entertainment management company expresses interest in taking her on, “You need to know this now. I ain’t no (expletive) Spice Girl.”

No, she definitely was not that.

It’s all beautifully shot, with many scenes filmed in the locations where they really happen, from that favorite Camden hangout, The Good Mixer, to the iconic Soho jazz club Ronnie Scott’s. And several famous moments in her life are re-created (singing “Rehab” at the Grammys, the raw emotion of the title track performed at Glastonbury).

There’s also a wonderful score by the Bad Seeds’ Warren Ellis and Nick Cave, who also contributes the tearful “Song For Amy” to the soundtrack. “Love gives everything just to take it away,” he sings, his vocal trembling with emotion. “And I’d give you anything to stay. “

There is, of course, a fuller story to be told. But you could say the same for any music biopic. It glosses over any number of defining Winehouse moments. In the end, though, you do get a sense of who she was and why she was the way she was, and how that drove her to create such deeply soulful music.

'Back to Black,' 3.5 stars

Great ★★★★★ Good ★★★★

Fair ★★★ Bad ★★ Bomb ★

Director: Sam Taylor-Johnson.

Cast: Marisa Abela, Jack O’Connell.

Rating: R for drug use, language, sexual content and nudity.

How to watch: In theaters Friday, May 17.

Reach the reporter at ed.masley@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @EdMasley and facebook.com/ed.masley

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 'Back to Black' review: Amy Winehouse movie brings heartache and soul