Rude Boy main backdrop
Rude Boy main poster

6.3/10 • 30

1980-07-252h 13m

DramaMusicDocumentary

Grab the future... by its face!

Rude Boy is a semi-documentary, part character study, part 'rockumentary', featuring a British punk band, The Clash. The script includes the story of a fictional fan juxtposed with actual public events of the day, including political demonstrations and Clash concerts.

Directors
Jack Hazan, David Mingay
Writters
Ray Gange, David Mingay
Editors
Ray Gange, David Mingay, David Mingay

Top Billed Cast

View Credits
  1. Ray Gange

    Ray Gange

    Rude Boy

  2. Joe Strummer

    Joe Strummer

    Rhythm Guitarist

  3. Topper Headon

    Topper Headon

    Drummer

  4. Paul Simonon

    Paul Simonon

    Bassist

  5. Jimmy Pursey

    Jimmy Pursey

    Self

  6. Mick Jones

    Mick Jones

    Self

  7. Ari Up

    Ari Up

    Self

Reviews1

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CinemaSerf Avatar

CinemaSerf

May 23, 2024

6/10

If you are a fan of "The Clash" then you might get more from this fly-on-the-wall, partially dramatised, documentary that follows their ascendancy in the UK towards the end of the 1970s. To give it some sort of narrative, there's a fan inserted into the mix and he serves as a conduit to not just the story of the four piece's musical journey, but also to illustrate a Britain that was wallowing after many years of ineffective government, out of control trades unions, and on the cusp of electing Margaret Thatcher (who does feature now and again telling us about the safety of old ladies walking along the street). What's interesting about their conversations is that the band vacillate entertainingly from the banal gibberish of stoned, drunk, opinionated would-be rock stars to perfectly lucid men with astute views of society and the causes of the misery which many of us Brits experienced at the time. The drama doesn't really work so well, but when they are on stage the thing can be quite electric, and the bands engagement with a wide demographic delivering some potently observational lyrics; plenty of ripe and vivid language, and some poor soul sent to the hotel corridor so another could get laid in their shared room brings some humour to it too. It's far too long and indulgently paced though, and there's not enough music to really stop in from becoming a bit too repetitive. Needs a shortening to tighten up the story, but still interesting enough.

Media

  • Rude Boy poster
  • Rude Boy poster
  • Rude Boy poster
  • Rude Boy poster
  • Rude Boy poster
  • Rude Boy poster

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
--
Keywords
london, englandpunk rockroadiethe clash