It’s All Gone Pete Tong

last updated 8 January 2015

Frankie Wilde is the hottest DJ on Ibiza. He leads the island's drug-fueled all-night parties with booming big beats. But tragically, years of standing next to man-sized speakers have taken their toll, and Wilde goes deaf. Canadian director Michael Dowse's mockumentary about middle-aged ravers feels very real, said Laura Sinagra in The Village Voice. The scene may have peaked in the '90s, but Dowse's 'œexuberant desire to poke fun' is timeless. The interviews with loopy, real-life DJs and their acolytes are so plausible that some may believe it's an actual documentary, said Andrew O'Hehir in Salon.com. British comedian Paul Kaye plays Wilde as the 'œKeith Richards of the cocaine-drenched club scene' with energetic commitment. But Wilde's massive club hits are, sadly, available nowhere in this world. The faux documentary is an established genre by now, said Manohla Dargis in The New York Times, and audiences have become used to its conventions. What distinguishes Pete Tong (the phrase is slang for total decline) is its cheeky touches, such as the 'œfanged, stuffed monster that rides shotgun with Frankie' during his coke binges. Most notably, Dowse manages to keep you fixated on the fate of a self-involved loser who deserves, and gets, a second chance.

Rating: R