Guitar Documentary's High Points Make up for a Few Missed Chords by Movie Reviewers on Creators.com

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Guitar Documentary's High Points Make up for a Few Missed Chords

Before meeting Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and U2's The Edge for the first time in "It Might Get Loud," suitably awed fellow guitarist Jack White of the White Stripes makes a vow. "I'm going to trick them into teaching me all of their tricks," he says of the two guitar legends.

White doesn't quite succeed in his quest. But he, like the viewers of this documentary, gains at least some insights into the markedly contrasting musical styles and approaches of Page and The Edge. They (and we) in turn learn a thing or two about Detroit-bred White, 34, who is outranked in age and experience — but not enthusiasm — by England's Page, 65, and Ireland's The Edge, 48.

The lack of sustained musical or conversational interaction among these three guitar heroes is a disappointment. But some of the small insights and unexpected twists should please both longtime fans and casual music listeners. Intriguingly, some of those twists are visual as much as musical.

In one scene, Page joyously plays air guitar as he listens to an old vinyl record of "Rumble," Link Wray's seminal 1954 guitar-raunch gem. In another, Page revisits Headley Grange, the dilapidated rural house where Zeppelin's classic fourth album was recorded in 1971. It's one thing to read about the large hallway where the late John Bonham's galvanizing drumming was recorded, but far more illuminating to see it as Page describes how the album was made.

Less riveting is a scene of White playing a song with an identically attired, mini-me version of himself (in reality an uncredited boy identified only as "Little Jack"). There's little warmth or wit when too-cool-for-school The Edge returns to the Dublin classroom where he and the other then-teen members of what became U2 started out.

But watching how he transforms a few simple chords into an electronically enhanced guitar opus is fascinating.

"It Might Get Loud" producer/director David Guggenheim is best known for having helmed "An Inconvenient Truth," the powerful, Oscar-winning 2007 environmental documentary that was narrated by Al Gore. That Guggenheim is a big fan of all three guitarists is readily apparent, but that's part of the problem. He is so deferential to his subjects that potentially intriguing topics are skipped over entirely.

While White passionately sings the praises of Delta blues pioneer Son House, Page — who was successfully sued for plagiarism by Chicago blues great Willie Dixon — says virtually nothing about his own, profoundly important blues influences. Inviting Page to pay homage to them is different than subjecting him to an inquest, but Guggenheim is too timid to even broach the matter.

In another scene, The Edge plays chiming chords that clearly pay homage to Irish blues-rock guitar icon Rory Gallagher, one of his biggest early influences, but Gallagher's name isn't mentioned once. Most frustrating of all, White — who owes at least as big an artistic debt to Page and Led Zeppelin as Page does to the blues — is not asked once to say anything about Page or the band that provided a sonic template for White Stripes.

These wasted opportunities are impossible to ignore. Happily, so, too, are the ear-to-ear grins of White and The Edge as they watch from just inches away as Page blasts out the mighty riff to Zeppelin's Dixon-inspired "Whole Lotta Love." And when the film closes with all three performing an acoustic version of "The Weight" by The Band, their shared love for music — even at minimal volume — is simply irresistible.

"It Might Get Loud." Rating: PG. Running time: 1 hour, 37 minutes. 3 stars.

To find out more about George Varga and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.