This is a documentary I've been wanting to see for a while because I really like Chicago's music and this serves as a vehicle for a better understanding of the band's creative input and output. Evidently, it doesn't help to fully understand the ups and downs of the relationships between all band members because not every member was involved in the making of this documentary nor with testimony to aid the band's story. So, considering how conflictingly the band parted ways with whom was the voice and face of the band, Mr. Peter Cetera along with the producer who co-wrote with Cetera some of the band's most successful tunes, this doesn't give you the full scope, because there is one side missing.
I like Chicago's 70's songs and the latter music of their career as well, so I'm not divided as many of their fans are. In the beginning of the documentary, I felt they were telling the story of their beginnings a little fast; and since I didn't know how the members looked in real life, I had a bit of trouble remembering who was who and what instrument each of them played. One thing I didn't particularly liked is that they didn't even named Peter Cetera until they got to If You Leave Me Now, I think that they should have introduced each of the members at the beginning.
There is a heart-warming tribute to Terry Kath, who contributed enormously to the band's sound in the early days with his technical guitar playing. Troubles begin when the film reaches the part where Chicago's musical direction changed. Since in this era of the band, Cetera's musical input was massive, it's inevitable for him to take center stage in this story, but his refusal to appear in the documentary leaves many questions unanswered and leaves it without a key point of view to understand the story better. So that is the main flaw this documentary has, it's only one side of the story, but it's a decent side, it's enough to understand how the majority of the members felt during the different stages they went through as the years went by.
But I can't take their truth when it comes to absent members unless we get both sides of the same coin.
To be honest, it's hard not to enjoy the documentary, even if you don't think that it comes across as sincere, because it deals with the music of one of the greatest bands of all time, Chicago.
