It looks like the mild-mannered life and uber-harmless soft-rock ouevre of Dennis Lambert is about to get its due.
The story of Lambert’s unlikely rise from hitmaking songwriter to Filipino rock star is sort of remarkable and also, kind of dull.
From about the late ’60s to the mid ’80s, Lambert was a hitmaking songwriter and producer responsible for such songs as Four Tops’ “Ain’t No Woman (Like the One I Got),” Glen Campbell’s “Rhinestone Cowboy,” The Commodores’ Grammy-winning “Nightshift”; Starship’s “We Built This City” and Player’s “Baby Come Back.” Not too shabby. What most people didn’t know, was that in 1972 Lambert cut his own solo disc, Bags And Things which pretty much tanked — except in the Philippines. There, the schmaltzy disc was a smash and the tune “Of All Things” became a standard at weddings (the songs he wrote for others are infinitely more memorable).
Lambert was always encouraged to tour the country and meet his fans, but always declined, until 2007 when he did five hugely successful, sold out shows. Lambert’s son Jody chronicled his Dad’s long-awaited journey to the Philippines in the equally sweet, yet innocuous documentary, “Off All Things,” which we saw last year at the International Film Festival of Boston and while it’s hard to shit on what is a very affectionate tribute from a son to his father, Bags And Things is pretty cornball soft-rock and not an undiscovered gem waiting to be unearthed.
Secondly, the documentary itself, which again is loving, is hardly much of a film at all (and still has no proper distribution), so we’re a little bemused as to why Steve Carell is set to play the lead in a feature-film version of the story for Warner Bros. who are currently in negotiations to buy the rights to the story (distribution or not at least young Lambert is getting something out of his hard work).
The story of Lambert senior is basically that of a real estate agent in cozy, retired-community Boca Raton, Florida, who suddenly makes the transition to rock-star for a few weeks when he finally accepts the offer to tour and play the Philippines. Whatever, happy kudos for everyone, but they’re going to really have to dramatize and invent things in this story that really has almost no real drama in it. Just like the inoffensive soft-rock that Lambert croons, the story and doc is pretty unoffending and toothless in every way, though we suppose it could mine the feel-good, inspirational mien quite nicely. And, for your parents, or those that thought, “Dan In Real Life,” was edgy, you might have something here.
Here’s the trailer to the original doc.