Acclaimed producer Stephen Woolley (“The Crying Game,” “Interview with the Vampire,” “The End of the Affair”) fails to provide much satisfaction in his directorial debut, “Stoned,” a drab and highly speculative recreation of the final days of troubled Rolling Stones founding member Brian Jones.
Even diehard Stones fans who’ve been jonezing for a biopic are likely to be disappointed by this tottering head film, which is laden with lifeless performances and played out rock star conventions (the naked babes, drug-fueled tantrums, crapulous hangers-on), yet devoid of any Stones originals because, you know, those song rights cost money.
Keith Richards famously called Jones, who died in the swimming pool at his East Sussex manse in 1969, “the best bunch of guys I ever met,” but as rendered here by Leo Gregory (“Tristan and Isolde”), the icon credited with cultivating the Stones’ bad-boy image comes across as one boring dude. Paddy Considine fares a little bit better as Frank Thorogood, Jones’ lackey and may-have-been killer. Monet Masur bears an eerie resemblance to Jones’ fair-haired paramour, model Anita Pallenberg. (Not rated. Running time: 102 minutes)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 24, 2006. Read the original PDF.