Stoned (2005)

One of the most amazing facts of the new millennium is that by the year 2000 only one current or former member of The Rolling Stones was dead. Multi-instrumentalist and chemical experimentalist Brian Jones washed up drowned at the bottom of his swimming pool at the waterlogged end of the 1960s. Jones’s short life of recreational excess and enthusiastic sacrilege is the narrative grist of Stoned (2005), a British-filmed dramatization of the edgiest Stone’s last days. The demise of Brian Jones caused rumor and speculation before the body had even dried. Many among the rock faithful remain convinced that the petulant blond icon was the victim of murder most foul. Stoned stokes the legend of a famous death by misadventure.

Ben Whishaw, Leo Gregory, and Paddy Considine gather to play the still-stirring rock band, The Rolling Stones.   And one has to wonder just how much goes into casting legendary rockers and the “equipment” they flaunt about.  Each band member gives a glimpse of their personal member at some point in this movie.  The only thing that might have made the encounter better is if they showed us playing their instruments they’ve obviously spent years mastering.