Because I am old enough to remember Joe Meek I approached this film with real relish. That was my first big mistake. Telstar is truly appalling, largely due to the direction of Nick Moran. It is a complete mess from start to finish, lurching around at a frightening speed without any real explanation of what is going on, one minute offering up infantile farce, the next Shakespearian melodrama. It is hard to believe that anyone could have taken such an interesting and sad story and made such a dog's dinner of it. But the director is not the only one to blame. It is hopelessly miscast with not one person looking comfortable in their role. Kevin Spacey looks like he's just wandered into the wrong studio from some sixties sitcom while most of the "band" are totally unbelievable. And Con O'Neil with that horrible squeaky voice delivers a performance so over the top that he makes Brian Blessed look like a restrained actor. The whole sorry mess drags on and on for close on two hours without ever being even remotely involving. I wish there was a star rating below one. Telstar is worthy of it.
Review of Telstar: The Joe Meek Story
