There’s a fascinating cast of characters at the heart of The Wrecking Crew – a gang of hard-working, hard-living session musos with the best chops in LA, cranking out hit after hit. Director Danny Tedesco’s film is a labour of love, spurred on by his father’s long run in the studio with the titular crew, and the urgency to preserve the stories of these oft-overlooked performers behind some of the biggest songs of the 60s before they are lost to the sands of time. But, as The Wrecking Crew joins many other documentaries in demonstrating, a great tale doesn’t necessarily mean a great film.
Presumably sitting on way too many hours of footage, Tedesco hasn’t managed to find a compelling through line. Despite his interview subjects being frequently engaging, and the opportunity for them to tell their unique stories of interest to music fanatics, The Wrecking Crew feels overlong due to problematic pacing, and also suffers from technical deficiencies.
If you’re willing to overlook these factors, there’s still plenty to enjoy. Earlier this year, Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy may have illustrated the same composition and production process (and with a believable bunch of actors standing in for The Wrecking Crew), but the reminiscences of the session folks themselves, and the chance to get to know them as characters, will be welcome watching to enthusiasts of the era.
‘The Wrecking Crew’ Movie Times
