Wham! movie review: Netflix’s George Michael documentary skims the surface

In Smith’s film, one hears the Wexler version of Careless Whisper, one that has the same melody but lacks the sharpness and snugness of the version that was rerecorded a year later and released with this winning combination of melancholia and romance. People lapped it up. But what’s worth noticing and appreciating, besides Michael’s insolence, is that one gets to hear two very different takes on soul music – the genre with roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm n’ blues – from two musicians from two completely different time zones. And well, both of them were white and had very different ideas.

Rest of the time, in this hour-and-a-half-long documentary told without any talking heads and which has been created mainly on the editing table with archival footage, photos, and details from scrapbooks that Ridgeley’s mother kept along with Michael and Ridgeley’s voiceovers, one cannot spot many pertinent things. The context of the band in terms of the political and musical history of the time and why and how of many things including their most popular tunes that are brought in such as Wham! Bam I am man and Wake me up and Last Christmas among others, is largely missing. A film claiming to be a music documentary, strangely, does not take a deep dive into the actual melodies of the band.

One of the few times that it draws one in is when Ridgeley’s role in the band is discussed. At 12, at Bushy Meads School in England’s Hertfordshire, Ridgeley became friends with shy and awkward Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou, of Greek descent, called him Yog, formed a band with him and let the music flow. The two played a Top of the Pops show when their catchy music, colourful shorts and youthful vibe got them much attention. Ridgeley continued to support his friend through thick and thin which meant cloaking Michael’s deepest fears from the world, including his struggles with homosexuality (Michael is heard saying, “I suddenly thought, Oh, my God, I’m a massive star and I’m gay”). After four years of being together, Ridgeley decided to bow out from Wham! so that his best friend could pursue his ambitious career. In any case, of the two, Michael had transformed into a better songwriter. Fame was “addictive” for Michael, he is heard saying in the film, “Because I was insecure, it was quite addictive.”

Ridgeley’s story in Michael’s story is a good story. And Wham! does share that. But it leaves out a lot about the band’s actual process of music creation and the future that followed – including Ridgeley’s solo album, his current life, Michael’s forthcoming struggles with drug abuse, and his subsequent death due to heart failure at 53 in 2016. Even if Smith wanted to stay in the present, the film does not answer one very basic question: What made Wham! boogie down into the hearts of the people?

Wham!
Director: Chris Smith
Cast: George Michael, Andrew Ridgeley