Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt And The Magnetic Fields (2010)

76% of critics liked it
(29 reviews)
70% of users liked it
(152 ratings)

Stephin Merritt is a singer and songwriter best known as the leader of the indie rock band the Magnetic Fields. While the Magnetic Fields haven't had to worry about the perils of stardom just yet, their fans are loyal and wildly enthusiastic, and they're a favorite of critics, who've described… More Stephin Merritt is a singer and songwriter best known as the leader of the indie rock band the Magnetic Fields. While the Magnetic Fields haven't had to worry about the perils of stardom just yet, their fans are loyal and wildly enthusiastic, and they're a favorite of critics, who've described Merritt as a contemporary Cole Porter for his witty, literate, and sardonic take on the game of love. Merritt's own expressive but froggy vocals are at once an ideal vehicle for his lyrics and one of the reasons his music appeals to a discriminating cult but hasn't broken through to the mass audience. Filmmakers Kerthy Fix and Gail O'Hara spent ten years sporadically following Merritt with their cameras, and Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields is the result, a documentary about his music and the man who lurks behind it. In addition to footage of Merritt on-stage with his band and talking at length about his work, Strange Powers features interviews with some of his better-known fans (including Peter Gabriel, Neil Gaiman, and Sarah Silverman) and explores the complex working relationship between Merritt and Claudia Gonson, his manager and bandmate. Strange Powers received its world premiere at the 2010 South by Southwest Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 22 min.
Directed By: Kerthy Fix, Gail O'Hara
Genres: Musical & Performing Arts, Documentary

In Theaters: Oct 27, 2010 Limited
On DVD: Apr 1, 2011
Studio: Variance Films

Critic Reviews

Ty Burr, Boston Globe
In inviting us along to peek into the life, filmmakers Kerthy Fix and Gail O'Hara don't give us quite enough about the art.
Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle
Overall, this is a nice introduction to an amiably dour tunesmith who once wrote that "all art aspires to the condition of Top 40 bubblegum pop."
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
Clearly, the directors have to be Merritt advocates to hang in there that long, but the film that resulted has elements that keep it from being simply a fan's notes.
Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter
This portrait of the famed indie rock composer-musician is for fans only.
V.A. Musetto, New York Post
No matter your take on Merritt's persona, there's no denying that he's a unique musician whose songs -- such as "Papa Was a Rodeo" and "Living in an Abandoned Firehouse With You" -- are worth discovering. As is this film.
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
A laconic, noodling documentary, Strange Powers: Stephen Merritt and the Magnetic Fields pecks gently at that shell but makes little effort to get underneath.
Jason Anderson, eye WEEKLY
Merritt seems to loathe the very idea of being in a movie. That impression lends a weird tension to Fix and O'Hara's otherwise affectionate and conventional account of his career to date.
Shawn Levy, Oregonian
"Strange Powers" moves with lightness, verve and charm, which Magnetic Fields fans might find amusing, given Merritt's well-known morosity.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
A most satisfying portrait of the artist as a middle-aged curmudgeon.
Brent Simon, Shared Darkness
A glimpse behind the curtain of creativity that makes a persuasive case for a tip of the cap to artistic enablers.
Jim Slotek, Jam! Movies
For my part, I knew nothing about The Magnetic Fields before seeing the movie. I came out interested in hearing more of their discography.
Kurt Loder, Current.com
The film is a piecemeal mosaic through which Merritt drifts like a small dark cloud. It may not pierce to the heart of his art, but it comes as close as anyone's likely to get.
Annlee Ellingson, Moving Pictures Magazine
Directors Kerthy Fix and Gail O'Hara offer a competent overview of a band. But a viewer unfamiliar with Merritt or the Magnetic Fields comes away with little further insight.
Jesse Cataldo, Slant Magazine
Of the million potential roads a documentary can take, the narrow, intimate route explored in Strange Powers seems like one of the least economical.
Vadim Rizov, Boxoffice Magazine
Not only is the film a slog, the main focus is on the band's arguably inferior last decade.
Chris Cabin, Filmcritic.com
reveals the nuance behind what for many is yet another undeservedly bitter and resentful musical genius
Noel Murray, AV Club
Most fan-docs are fairly remedial, but Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt And The Magnetic Fields is more sophisticated than the norm, in keeping with its subject.
Stephanie Zacharek, Movieline
A relaxed, enjoyable little documentary whose central figure emerges as a figure rendered in half-precise, half-diffuse pointillist dots
Eric Monder, Film Journal International
A decent way to get to know a small group of New York-based musicians who have been performing together since the early 1990s.