Icons with a capital “I” tend to have many movies made about them; but only the best of the best earn the quintessential, multi-part immersive treatment.
When you see “Executive Producer” credits for the likes of Tom Hanks and Sean Hayes float across your screen, you know you’re in for an enterprise that relied upon brand-name involvement to unseal compelling never-before-seen footage.
Directors Susan Lacy and Jessica Levin cut together “Billy Joel: And So It Goes” in express collaboration with the titular man of the hour, nay, 5 hours’ worth of said enlightening BTS entertainment—and then some.
Neither Joel, nor the visual biographers tabbed to tell his tale hold back in exploring ostensibly regrettable footnotes, like the promiscuous Piano Man’s guilt-addled suicide attempts per the consequences of his homewrecking proclivities during his younger years.
The self-sabotage streak continued as he chased professional peaks and valleys with excessive, alcohol-dependent escapades; the public knew of this tragic happenstance—but not in as much detail as it does now.
While the first half paints the portrait of a classical student seduced by the perks of popstardom, the second half recalls his push for something greater than his inevitable induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
At one point, he proudly Jewish Joel’s pain and sorrow accrued on his path to glory becomes filtered through an unexpected lens: he may have inherited more trauma from his ancestors being forced out of Nazi-controlled Germany ahead of the Holocaust than even he realized until demons-defeated clarity struck him later in life.
Long Islanders maintain such a possession of Joel that a film like this serves as an important P.S.A.: Joel may have been born in Hicksville, but his reach is gargantuan.
Still, it’s endearing to relive his post-Hurricane Sandy “12.12.12” comeback set and subsequent decade-plus Madison Square Garden residency being framed as a send-off to the South Shore.
The South Shore thanks Joel for his contributions to the music world. As do countless talking heads, from his ex-wives, to his contemporaries, and his longtime backing bandmates he routinely pledged shocking blind loyalty to—the Beatles’ producer George Martin almost produced “The Stranger?” Exsqueeze me? A baking powder?
A virtue foremostly perpetuated within this four-out-of-five-star look behind Joel’s bittersweetly closing curtains: because his greatest works are so colored with common man specificity, they, and he, stand the test and turbulence of time that much more.
Make sure you watch it with your family, whether in person or in spirit.
In any event, Vienna still waits for you.