An excellent Biopic of one of the greatest songwriters ever. The movie takes the necessary time to go into the details of Joels over 50 years of career and into his private life, from birth to now. The movie does neither avoid the more unpleasant parts of his life nor does it over-emphasise them. I think that it strikes an excellent balance between explaining the man and celebrating his greatness in music. A must-see for fans and people interested in music history. Fans of most of today's artificially created stars that all sound and behave the same, as their music comes from the same few people, can learn about one of the few musicians that can do it all. Great, versatile music that evolves and adapts with time written and performed by a man who does it for the love of music and not just for clicks, fame and money.

Wow bloody brilliant 5 hours long and I watched over two nights..thanks for the music and the catalog of music for the past 50 years.

This is a “mini series” about Billy Joel’s career and life that is actually only 2 episodes. It is extremely long for so few episodes, something like 5 hours. But instead of making it 4 or 5 episodes, they made it 2. I have no idea why they did that, but let me just say that I am not a Billy Joel fan at all and yet I found it worthwhile despite its daunting length. So, 5 hours means it’s pretty exhaustive and it is. You’ll find that questions you might have about his early life are answered eventually. For whatever reason documentaries now do not like telling people’s lives strictly chronologically. Though, in this case, with Joel semi-narrating, that’s less of an issue here. Nearly every album is discussed and there are just a ton of famous musicians, as well as the odd critic, telling you why they think he’s great. You’ll be surprised by some of them. I know I was. I won’t spoil the wildest one. There are also many members of his crew. The coolest interviewee is his first wife, who I knew nothing about. She should be as famous as Sharon Osbourne. The problem with authorized documentaries is you get the subject’s version of events and that might not be the whole truth. This documentary tries to get around that by briefly discussing his substance abuse. And as Jenn notes, the fact that all his ex wives are here and seem to like him is a testament to him as a person and a testament that this is might be a little bit more honest than some authorized documentaries. Certainly it seems like Joel tries to be honest with himself and us. As I said, I’m not a fan. “Just the Way You Are” would make my list of my least favourite hits of the 1970s, if not all time. I don’t get his music: he has such an attitude – and sometimes extremely biting lyrics – and yet his music is so safe and tame. He is an incredible piano player and singer and he makes catchy, seemingly easy, music for people who don’t like to think about music, who will mostly never be able to appreciate how musically talented he is, because they just want to sing along. He’s a crowd-pleaser despite his attitude and despite his talent. He’s struck me as a bit of a conundrum and I do not enjoy the vast majority of his songs. (I also think he’s a pastiche artist, stealing liberally – and well – from so many other artists. I’m not always sure what he is without the obvious influences.) But Jenn is a fan. And so, in July of 2022, I took her to see Billy Joel in Detroit for her birthday. And, what can I say? I was very impressed. I don’t like his music particularly, but this 73-year-old man played forever because he hadn’t performed in Detroit in who knows how many years and he felt like the people of Detroit deserved it. And I was just kind of like, “Well, why am I so much of a dick about him? He makes people happy and he works his ass off to do so. And he doesn’t have to.” And I find that this film adds to my appreciation of him as a performer and musician even if I am never going to be a fan of his music. You will never find me randomly putting on a Billy Joel album because I feel like it. I don’t particularly like what he does or how he does it. By have a great deal of respect for him now. I’m much closer to “getting it” than I was when I wrote all my scathing album reviews back when I was listening to him for my podcast. If I enjoyed this documentary, you certainly will.

Very special documentary. This man is truly a legendary artist and deserves The recognition as such. Every artist who touches as many people's lives deserves this level of record. It is well balanced and covers a lot of ground over the 5 hour running time. Not once is it tedious. And not once do you not realise how talented Billy Joel genuinely is. And the final few minutes were "chef's kiss".

Five hours with Billy Joel is… a lot. But it turns out I could happily do it. Interesting that the doc basically falls into two clean halves: “Respectable Billy” (Turnstiles through Nylon Curtain – the case for him as a great songwriter, which I’d absolutely make, lives here) and “Maligned Billy” (An Innocent Man onwards – Uptown Girl, We Didn’t Start the Fire, River of Dreams). And weirdly I preferred the second half. First part is good but the second half really digs into why stopped making music, his alcoholism, and general unhappiness. Like, there’s still a whole hour left once he’s stopped releasing pop sounds and you’re expecting padding, but instead it’s Billy talking about himself, not just his music. It’s candid, but funny enough, and there’s plenty of insightful talking heads (Springsteen, Sting, McCartney) to keep you going. And I’ve always had a soft spot for him anyway. The Stranger is a phenomenal album, and I love how he was a megastar who never once looked like one – clothes were always awful, the hair always worse (baldness might be the kindest thing that ever happened to him, even if he does now look exactly like a cross between a pitbull and Paul Giamatti). I also loved meeting his version of the E-Street Band, especially Liberty Devito. That guy rocks. What really struck me was how unbothered he is about ageing. Springsteen clearly fights it, Mick Jagger even more so, but Billy Joel never had to. He was never cool so he doesn’t lose anything as he gets older. Instead he sort of gains stature and gravitas as he ages, just by enduring. If the songs still sound good, the retroactive credibility will arrive. Makes me wonder who that’s going to be for our generation? Ed Sheeran? I can see that. Coldplay? Or has that already started to happen?