Perhaps what comes through the loudest is the idea of the Bee Gees as “chameleons of pop,” as one critic puts it, repeatedly reinventing themselves in the process. What follows consists of multiple parts, including the brothers’ unique collaborative style – actually writing songs in the studio while recording – exploring the challenging dynamics of working professionally with family and charting the Gibbs’ rise, breakup, reunion, staggering success, the radioactive period that came after, and finally a measure of redemption.īeyond Barry – three years older than his twin brothers, and a dozen older than Andy, who became a teen heartthrob as a solo act – Marshall and writer Mark Monroe talk to numerous associates and shrewdly solicit third-party voices like Justin Timberlake Nick Jonas, who in the latter case can address the complications associated with having a musical enterprise with siblings. The film then jumps 40 years ahead, to an aged Barry, last surviving member, who ruefully cites his memories and says, “Someone will be left in the end.”
That’s because this infectious film goes beyond mere nostalgia in chronicling the roller-coaster ups and downs of the brothers Gibb, which should make anyone even mildly familiar with the group feel a little “Fever”-ish.ĭirector Frank Marshall kicks off with the brothers – Barry, Robin and Maurice – performing at a rapturous arena in 1979, two years after the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack unleashed a flurry of hits, while sowing the seeds for what would become a backlash against disco music. Knowing the songs isn’t knowing the whole story with “The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart,” the HBO documentary you probably didn’t know you needed.
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