The Linda McCartney Story (2000) (TV)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Armand Mastroianni

Writer (WGA):

Christine Berardo (teleplay)

Release Date:

21 May 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Paul Mccartney | John Lennon | Character Name In Title

Cast

Elizabeth Mitchell	...	Linda McCartney
Gary Bakewell	...	Paul McCartney
David Lewis	...	Danny Field
Nicole Oliver
Tim Piper	...	John Lennon
Matthew Harrison	...	Mick Jagger
Aaron Grain	...	Jim Morrison
Jenafor Ryane
Moya O'Connell	...	Heather McCartney
Alexander Ruurs	...	James McCartney
Michelle Skalnik
George Segal	...	Lee Eastman
Chris Cound	...	George Harrison
Michael McMurtry	...	Ringo Starr
Jane Sowerby	...	Chrissy Hynde

Also Known As:

L'histoire de Linda McCartney (Canada: French title)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Columbia TriStar Television

Trivia:

When the Beatles are arguing over who will manage them, John, George, and Ringo refer to the agent they want to hire as "Bruce Grossman". In real life, the agent's name was Allen Klein.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: During a phone conversation there are two voices saying roughly the same lines, obviously one is the script prompter feeding the lines to the person on the phone.

Quotes:

Linda McCartney: Mick Jagger said he'd never have his old lady on stage.
Paul McCartney: Yeah, well screw him!
Linda McCartney: I already have.

Movie Connections:

Edited from The Rose (1979)

Soundtrack:

Back Door

Not very interesting

Well, Gary Bakewell looks a lot like Paul McCartney.

Other than that...

This movie lacks substance. The film is set up as a series of flashbacks while Linda is coping with breast cancer in the 1990s, so the ultimate doom of Linda kind of puts a downer on the whole movie. But the biggest problem is that it rushes up to the parts where Paul is courting Linda, then loses it's steam pretty quickly once Paul and Linda get married and the Beatles break up. The years spent as a photographer, with Wings, as an animal rights activist, even her time spent as a mother are barely skimmed over, so we the audience, are left feeling kind of gypped of at least 25 years worth of valuable information. Granted, a happy and stable marriage does not make much juicy filler for a movie, but we really don't get much of a feel for who this woman was, but rather who she was for Paul McCartney.

That said, I thought the actors did a decent job, considering the lack of material; there was a nice chemistry between Bakewell and Elizabeth Mitchell. And if you did know anything about the real Linda McCartney, watching her portrayed in her final days was touching. A nice film to have on in the background while you're busy doing other things. But as a film in it's own right, it's just not strong enough material to hold much interest.