Spinning Gold (2023) * *

 

Directed by:  Timothy Scott Bogart

Starring:  Jeremy Jordan, Michelle Monagahan, Casey Likes, Tayla Parx, Winslow Fegley, Jason Isaacs, Jason Derulo, Wiz Khalifa, Sebastian Maniscalco, Jay Pharoah, Lyndsy Fonseca

Spinning Gold is a classic case of a movie knowing the words, but not the music.  It curiously doesn't match the energy level required to tell a story of a hustling record executive who founded Casablanca Records in the 1970's, which launched artists like Kiss, Donna Summer, Bill Withers, and other top artists.  That person is Neil Bogart (Jordan), a Brooklyn native who cut his teeth as a singer, songwriter, and an executive for other record companies before forming Casablanca.  Things are rough for many years as the movie tallies on screen how the company sinks to eight million dollars in debt before finally hitting it big.  

Neil works tirelessly to make something out of Casablanca.  He's part snake oil salesman, part huckster, and part politician, all of which is required to keep the talent from bolting to other labels and stick with Neil's vision.   There is an absorbing story to be made from this material, but Spinning Gold never quite reaches that level.   The movie makes a Herculean effort to present Neil as a likable guy with talent and a dream, but it collapses under its own weight.  When Casablanca finally finds itself in the black and Neil sells half of it to Polygram in 1980, we are happy for him although not much moved.  The saddest aspect of Neil Bogart's life was that in a mere two years following the height of his financial success, he died from cancer at age 39.   

Spinning Gold features wall-to-wall vocal performances from the actors playing the label's biggest acts.  The singing is passable enough and the actors do what they can to bolster the material, but since the movie was written and directed by Neil's son Timothy Scott Bogart, we wonder if some of the darker and edgier stuff was left out.  Spinning Gold plays as a love letter to Timothy's father, which is understandable, but because of that we never can gather a full picture of the man's rocky rise as an unsung hero in the music industry.  Everything, even Neil's eventual cocaine addiction, seems measured and pulls its punches.  This is something I suspect Neil Bogart wouldn't do.