It's All Gone Pete Tong

"Good"

It's All Gone Pete Tong Review


Whatever you think about It's All Gone Pete Tong the movie, it is unquestionably one of the worst titles for a film I've ever heard.

At first I thought I was reading it wrong: The title was just It's All Gone and "Pete Tong" was a wayward producer credit or something.

Nope, that's the real title, and Pete Tong is both a real person and a minor actor in the film (playing himself), in this bizarre and allegedly true* story of one Frankie Wilde, who gained notoriety as "The Deaf DJ" -- on account of he was deaf and a DJ. Lovable freak Paul Kaye plays Wilde, charting his rise to fame (as famous as a DJ can get, anyway) and his wild drug abuse and developing deafness as a result. After beating up the six-foot-tall drug badger that chases him around, Wilde cleans up, learns to read lips, and figures out how to feel the beat by hooking up speakers to special crates that he rested his feet on. This way, Wilde could know when to slip the little slider control from right to left -- which is pretty much all that a DJ has to do, if you believe what you see in this film. Finally, following a triumphant return to a packed house in Ibiza, Wilde promptly vanished from the public eye.

I may be oblivious about DJ's, but I do know that Tong is far from a great film. Its attempt to combine mockumentary and narrative styles is a full-out mess, with talking heads interrupting the action at regular intervals. Kaye is energetic, to say the least, but he's never been an endearing actor and it's hard to feel for his struggle here. Dowse ably portrays Wilde's junkie lifestyle here, with a handful of memorable supporting characters and a few funny lines here and there. Whether you really dig this film will depend entirely on your affection for the club scene and you opinion of its heroes.

As for Pete Tong, he's another famous DJ with almost nothing to do with Wilde's story. The title is meant as a rhyming joke of some sort ("It's gone all wrong") with a little Bend It Like Beckham kick. Watch for it on DVD with an entirely different title, I'm guessing.

* Not really. Frankie Wilde is an elaborate hoax that, we have to imagine, no one is really going to care about.

Pete Tong's hooked on phonics.



It's All Gone Pete Tong

Facts and Figures

Run time: 90 mins

In Theaters: Friday 27th May 2005

Box Office Worldwide: $120.6 thousand

Budget: $2M

Distributed by: Matson Films

Reviews

Contactmusic.com: 3 / 5

Rotten Tomatoes: 77%
Fresh: 54 Rotten: 16

IMDB: 7.4 / 10

Cast & Crew

Director:

Starring: as Frankie Wilde, as Sonja, as Jack Stoddart, as Penelope

Contactmusic


Links


New Movies

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Movie Review

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Movie Review

After the thunderous reception for J.J. Abrams' Episode VII: The Force Awakens two years ago,...

Daddy's Home 2 Movie Review

Daddy's Home 2 Movie Review

Like the 2015 original, this comedy plays merrily with cliches to tell a silly story...

The Man Who Invented Christmas Movie Review

The Man Who Invented Christmas Movie Review

There's a somewhat contrived jauntiness to this blending of fact and fiction that may leave...

Ferdinand Movie Review

Ferdinand Movie Review

This animated comedy adventure is based on the beloved children's book, which was published in...

Brigsby Bear Movie Review

Brigsby Bear Movie Review

Director Dave McCary makes a superb feature debut with this offbeat black comedy, which explores...

Battle of the Sexes Movie Review

Battle of the Sexes Movie Review

A dramatisation of the real-life clash between tennis icons Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs,...

Shot Caller Movie Review

Shot Caller Movie Review

There isn't much subtlety to this prison thriller, but it's edgy enough to hold the...

Advertisement
The Disaster Artist Movie Review

The Disaster Artist Movie Review

A hilariously outrageous story based on real events, this film recounts the making of the...

Stronger Movie Review

Stronger Movie Review

Based on a true story about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, this looks like one...

Only the Brave Movie Review

Only the Brave Movie Review

Based on a genuinely moving true story, this film undercuts the realism by pushing its...

Wonder Movie Review

Wonder Movie Review

This film may be based on RJ Palacio's fictional bestseller, but it approaches its story...

Happy End  Movie Review

Happy End Movie Review

Austrian auteur Michael Haneke isn't known for his light touch, but rather for hard-hitting, award-winning...

Patti Cake$ Movie Review

Patti Cake$ Movie Review

Seemingly from out of nowhere, this film generates perhaps the biggest smile of any movie...

The Limehouse Golem Movie Review

The Limehouse Golem Movie Review

A Victorian thriller with rather heavy echoes of Jack the Ripper, this film struggles to...

Advertisement
Artists
Actors
    Filmmakers
      Artists
      Bands
        Musicians
          Artists
          Celebrities
             
              Artists
              Interviews