By Jacob Cameron

Man on the Run is the latest documentary to cover something related to the legendary band, The Beatles. In this instance, it covers the bands frontman Paul McCartney. Specifically, McCartney’s departure from The Beatles and his formation of the band Wings. This all makes for a truly riveting film.

Man on the Run was directed by Morgan Neville. Neville’s work includes documentaries such as 20 Feet From Stardom, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, and Roadrunner: A Film about Anthony Bourdain. The film picks up with the notorious breakup of The Beatles in 1969 and carries on through Wings’ breakup in 1979 and the assasination of John Lennon in 1980. With the narrative of the documentary being bookended by the release of the album McCartney in 1970 and McCartney II in 1980.

While there have been quite a few Beatles documentaries released in the past number of years: The Beatles: Get Back being a recent example. But this film solely focuses on McCartney and what he was going through mentally and emotionally over a challenging decade. Neville paints a picture of McCartney achieving freedom from The Beatles while also being faced with new challenges. The breakup of the Beatles was taken hard by all of their fans, and the anticipation was palpable for what the members would do in their solo careers. It was a wise move to focus on th decade of the 70s as there was tremendous pressure on McCartney to carve out his legacy as a solo star. 

There are areas of the Beatles breakup that are addressed that were interesting. Most notably the narrative that McCartney was responsible for the breakup. This whole affair was a messy and complicated affair with no one man responsible for said breakup. The only thing that McCartney could do was try to strive for individualism. Along with striving for the grace to let go of that era of his life and “grow up” in his own words. 

Other points covered include the pushback received regarding the addition of Linda McCartney to Wings. The somewhat mixed reception to Wings upon their debut. McCartney’s issues regarding a cannabis issue which lead to the cancellation of Wings’ Japan tour. The literal homemade methods that McCartney used to record his debut solo album. McCartney’s immediate reaction to John Lennon’s assasination. And those are the more prevalent examples.

McCartney provides narration throughout the documentary. With additional insight coming from Linda, John Lennon, Sean Ono Lennon, along with various Wings band members. All provide great insight and are truly fascinating to listen to. Additional praise should be given towards the editing as there are many instances of animation and creative editing techniques. Which are applied to the transition points in the film.

Ultimately, this is an intimate and personal documentary done in the traditional Morgan Neville way. Even hardcore Beatles fans will, more than likely, learn something new with this documentary.

5 stars