A good documentary is really just like any other good story. It needs it’s protagonist to go through the hero’s journey. Are you doing a documentary about national parks à la Ken Burns? Then the park is the hero. The idea gets introduced, there are challenges to overcome, there’s a moment where the park is in jeopardy, and in the end, the park is there for hundreds of years. A good documentary takes the audience on a trip from beginning, middle, and end.
The Beastie Boys Story is a live documentary streaming on AppleTV+ that does that very well. It takes the audience through the lives of Michael “Mike D” Diamond, Adam “MCA” Yauch, and Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz from their New York upbringing, to the formation of the Beastie Boys and opening for Madonna, then to Los Angeles, and finally back to New York. But first, a couple of things.
The “live” portion of this “live documentary” is the event that Diamond and Horovitz do, telling the story that you are about to watch. It’s like a two hour fun Ted Talk about the Beastie Boys. The show was written, produced, and directed by long time Beastie Boys collaborator Spike Jonze with Diamond and Horovitz, as a live event documentary film.
Beastie Boys Story is about two individuals looking back on the crazy journey they had taken, beginning in their early teens, and over the course of decades, as they grew into men. Diamond and Horovitz talk lovingly about Adam Yauch, the man that brought them together as a band, and who sadly passed away in 2012.
The documentary itself is fine. It’s a good one for the casual Beastie Boys listener, but it feels like it might fall a little short for the hardcore fan. It was interesting to learn that the name Beastie Boys was always there, and that it was actually an acronym, but that doesn’t feel like it would be news to real fans of the band. It doesn’t feel like there are any real revelations in the documentary, and in that, I felt a little disappointed. I definitely fall in the less than casual Beastie Boys listener, and maybe that was why it fell a little flat for me.
This documentary didn’t feel like it was made for me, the guy that off the top of his head can maybe only name three or four Beastie Boys songs. Diamond and Horovitz, who were hosting the live event, touched on some difficult moments, but never really delved into it. There were some fun stories, but the whole documentary just didn’t feel fun enough. There were moments where Diamond, Horovitz, and Spike Jonze tried to inject humour and jokes, but it fell a little flat.
This is really a love letter to the band by its members. A love letter to a journey that these three men took together, the many crazy ups, and some big downs that they experienced as a band, and as friends. And that is the big takeaway from it. That these guys, through it all, had each other, and had each other’s backs. And that no matter what happens, they will always have the Beastie Boys. If the names Mike D, MCA and Ad-Rock mean anything to you, then you will enjoy Beastie Boys Story. The stories Diamond and Horovitz tell, although may not be new to you, may give you a little tingle. It’ll make you want to spin up a Beastie Boys playlist on Spotify. It’ll make you want to put on that great Sabotage music video. But for everyone else, it’ll just be a decent watch. The Beastie Boys Story hits all the touchstones of a good documentary. An unlikely beginning, a big middle, and a sweet, melancholic end.
Beastie Boys Story
Apple TV+
120 minutes
Director: Spike Jonze
Screenplay: Spike Jonze, Ad-Rock, and Mike D
Cast: Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz and Michael “Mike D” Diamond
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