Supermensch: The Legend of Shep Gordon
Dir: Mike Myers, Beth Aala
2014
****
Shep Gordon is essentially Mr A-list in the Music, film and celebrity chief business. Actually, it is probably more accurate to say that he wrote the list in the first place. You'd be forgiven in assuming he was quite an unsavory character given how successful he's been in not one but three of the most cut-throat industries going. That and the fact he wears a t-shirt saying "No Head, No Backstage Pass". Luckily for him, Mike Myers and many of his friends have decided to tell it how it really is; Shep Gordon is a great guy. So why should we care? No big reason really, he is indeed a nice guy but the real reason to watch is because he has so many amazing stories. He's met everybody. He managed Alice Cooper and Groucho Marx at the same time, the three of them used to watch TV in bed together. He cooks breakfast for the Dalai Lama. He met Janis Joplin on his first night in LA, she punched him in the face as he interrupted an intimate moment she was having with Jimi Hendrix at the time (he'd just dropped acid and thought they were fighting). Mike Myers is also a comedian, his job is to make people laugh and Gordon's got lots of jokes to tell, as have his friends. Indeed, it is one of the funniest documentaries I've ever seen. I can't help but think that this film came about because Gordon was somewhat left out of Alice Cooper's doc; Super Duper Alice Cooper. Interesting how they are both 'Super' films too. Super in name and super in content.