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Jill Vejnoska
c. 2001 Cox News Service
Being Mick Jagger is so much like being me that sometimes it's spooky.
Mick always seems to be working. Me, too.
When Mick goes to a party, he huddles with the host to gossip about a mutual acquaintance. Let's just say I don't go to parties for the onion dip.
Mick shares an elegant London home with Jerry Hall, despite having legally nullified their 1990 Hindu marriage two years ago and despite having a 2-year-old son by another woman. I ... OK, I give up.
One of the things that's so remarkable about this documentary is the way it strives to make the legendary Rolling Stones frontman's life seem unremarkable. And partly succeeds. In an unnarrated hour loosely organized around Jagger ``with friends, with family, at work and play,'' there's enough regular-yuppie-guy footage to make you wonder if the bad boy of '69 who performed at the violence-marred Altamont festival couldn't now be listening to Neal Boortz on the daily commute in from Alpharetta.
There's Elizabeth and Georgia May Jagger singing backup during Mick's version of ``Take Our Daughters to Work Day.'' Mick in ugly blue sweats working out with weights and an exercycle (somewhere, Keith Richards is weeping). Mick voting. Hall even has to bum a ride home from a studio musician.
Did I mention that the studio musician in question is Pete Townshend of the Who? Or that it's Elton John with whom Jagger lingers at John's party to swap mild slams at Madonna's latest concert tour? (Sir Elton: ``When you don't tour for eight years. ...'' Jagger: ``You get a bit rusty.'') Meanwhile, Jagger intersperses family getaways to the Caribbean and a French countryside ``summer home'' (think: Versailles) with work on his solo CD, ``Goddess in the Doorway.''
It's when Jagger attempts to board his private jet for a flight from Cologne, Germany, that it finally becomes clear how remarkable being Mick is. He's just laid down some tracks and shared salad with U2 lead singer Bono, so maybe that explains the ``are you daft?'' look he throws the person asking to see his passport. He finds it, but was there ever any doubt he'd get to take off?
In ``Being Mick,'' Jagger, 58, seems admirably devoted to his work, which now includes producing movies. He's a caring father and maddeningly everyman-like in his unwillingness to discuss matters of the heart. (``Yeah, I have values for my relationships, but I'm just not going to talk about them,'' he says.)
I'm not sure why Mick has chosen now to make himself seem so accessible - although ``Goddess'' did hit stores Tuesday. Nor am I sure I like it.''Being Mick'' is undeniably entertaining, even for those without a strong Stones jones. It's especially fascinating watching him work into his patented cock-of-the-walk performance mode for recording sessions. But this documentary does slightly soften the image of a hard-rock icon who broke the mold, and countless rules of polite society.
Being unremarkable is one thing. Being Mick has always seemed like a heckuva lot more fun.
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CHAT ROOM aka THE FUN HOUSE] [
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