Telstar (2009) - 15

Press Association

Actor turned writer-director Nick Moran adapts his acclaimed stage play, documenting the rise and fall of pioneering '60s songwriter and ...

Actor turned writer-director Nick Moran adapts his acclaimed stage play, documenting the rise and fall of pioneering '60s songwriter and record producer Joe Meek. There is a thin line separating genius and madness and Meek straddled it for most of his short life. Promiscuously gay at a time when homosexuality was illegal and emotionally volatile with the people closest to him, he defied convention to storm to the top of the charts on both side of the Atlantic in 1962 with the quirky title track. Yet for all of his chart success, Meek was forever in the thrall of depression and self-loathing, and prone to crippling fits of paranoia like when he became convinced that a rival record label had secreted microphones behind the wallpaper of his recording studio to steal his ideas. There was almost a sickening inevitably when the producer took his own life with a single-barrelled shotgun. He was 37. Moran's handsome film is a warts 'n' all, greatest hits compilation of Meek's final years, opening in 1961 on the streets of London where Joe (Con O'Neill) has installed a recording studio above a leather goods store run by his chirpy landlady, Violet Shenton (Pam Ferris). While Joe conjures melodies from the ether, songwriting partner Geoff Goddard (Tom Burke) provides the words. Major Wilfred Banks (Kevin Spacey) is the money behind the business and he receives a modest return from his investment thanks to Joe's band The Tornados - drummer Clem Cattini (James Corden) and guitarists Chas Hodges (Ralf Little) and Alan Caddy (Tom Harper) - who tour with Billy Fury (Jon Lee). Blond singer Heinz Burt (JJ Feild) catches Joe's roving eye and the producer adds him to the line-up of The Tornados, creating friction with the other members of the group. "He'll have you on the top of the 19 bus with your pants around your ankles if he thinks it will sell a few records," one of them warns Heinz, who becomes Joe's lover, exploiting his position for a shot at solo stardom. The euphoria that greets the release of "Telstar" is short-lived. A French composer files a plagiarism lawsuit, preventing Joe from receiving any royalties from his musical masterpiece. The threat of financial ruin nudges him to the brink of self-destruction and as his mood worsens, so the strained relationship with Heinz implodes. "You wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me!" rages the producer, losing all semblance of self-control. In the final days, Joe's emotional rock is his devoted assistant Patrick (Sid Mitchell), but even he is powerless to prevent the final descent into madness that culminates in Joe accidentally sho, oting Violet before turning the shotgun on himself. Telstar cannot completely break free of its stage origins, with large sections of the film consigned to the claustrophobic confines of Joe's studio. However, Moran attempts to open up the play with scenes of swinging London life that capture the fashions and prevailing moods of the era. O'Neill's incendiary performance galvanises the entire picture, oscillating wildly from malicious and bullying to playful and pithy. When he receives a poison pen letter that states menacingly, 'We know where you live', Joe is quick to observe, "Of course he knows where I live, he sent me a letter!" With the lead actor dominating every frame, supporting performances jostle for attention on the edges of the screen but no one shines. Throwaway cameos include Carl Barat (The Libertines) as Gene Vincent and Justin Hawkins (The Darkness) as Screaming Lord Sutch. Moran doesn't shy away from depicting Joe's sexuality, whether it be him scouting for cheap thrills in a gentleman's toilet or a brief sex scene with Heinz, shot through a rain-lashed bedroom window. The soundtrack jives to the songs of the time, with a cursory nod to the present by way of Duffy's cover version of "Please Stay" by The Cryin' Shames over the end credits.

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