
Fact-based story about the drug-addled and sordid life of The Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones. Unfortunately the story moves so quickly into the sensationalized decadence and drug-induced state of Jones, that the unknowing viewer has to wonder why anyone would care. There are only a few framing sequences with members of The Stones, particularly Keith Richards, that show they had a great respect for him and tried to bring him back into the band as he drifted away. Mixed int... (Full plot summary below)
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Fact-based story about the drug-addled and sordid life of The Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones. Unfortunately the story moves so quickly into the sensationalized decadence and drug-induced state of Jones, that the unknowing viewer has to wonder why anyone would care. There are only a few framing sequences with members of The Stones, particularly Keith Richards, that show they had a great respect for him and tried to bring him back into the band as he drifted away. Mixed into the destruction of Jones is a common builder, Frank Thorogood, who is given the unenviable task of trying to please Jones by rebuilding his estate and to watch him per Jones' manager's instructions. Thorogood's life is so far removed from all of the sex and drugs that he sees, that he envies and desires the tawdry life as well, but never quite fits in. Unfortunately, at least according to this film and according to a supposed death bed confessional of Thorogood in 1993, it led to Thorogood's murder of Jones in a swimming pool "accident".
Leave your thoughts about Stoned.
| Seattle Post-IntelligencerBill WhiteThe soundtrack is a mess, with period music out of sync with the period, as when the 1967 song, "White Rabbit," underscores a 1965 acid trip. |
| Greenwich Village GazetteEric LurioThe acting is fine, but all in all, we wonder whether or not this was worth the effort. |
| NewsdayJohn AndersonPlayed with such an utter lack of charisma by Leo Gregory, Jones comes across as a rocker so drug- and ego-addled he doesn't have enough sense to lie down. |
| Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanThorogood allegedly confessed on his deathbed (in 1993) that he killed Jones, and while the movie convinces us that this might have happened, it never truly reveals who Brian Jones was before he fell apart. His indulgence, and his demise, play out in a void. |
| Washington PostDesson ThomsonIts title may ring with pun and promise, but Stoned is a flat riff on Jones's short life. You'll get the highlights but no sense of what made him special -- or what really haunted him. |
| ViewLondonMatthew TurnerIn short, Stoned tells an interesting story and is worth seeing, although it's not quite as good as it would have been if the Stones had coughed up the music rights. |
| Reeling ReviewsLaura Clifforda tiresome slog of uneven acting, artistry and technique...for fanatics of the material only, although it's possible getting oneself into the titular state may raise it up a notch. I can't be bothered to find out. |
| Premiere MagazineEthan AlterYou can't exactly blame Jones for leading such a clichéd rock-star life. You can, however, blame director Stephen Woolley for making such a clichéd rock-star film. |
| Reeling ReviewsRobin CliffordI would rather be stoned than have to watch Stoned. |
| New TimesLuke Y. ThompsonThorogood apparently confessed, on his deathbed, to murdering Jones, but the movie doesn't give us much of a clue why. |