This is a look at how Kenneth Cole has made a difference with various social causes such as the fight against AIDS and for increased mental health awareness.
I alternately think this is a great documentary and a terrible one. As a slick portrait of a man and his causes this film is great. It shows us how Cole has helped shape the world for the better. It's an an amazing piece about a man who is trying to make the world a better place.
At the same time the film is incredibly slick and assumes you know who Cole is, who everyone and what everything he mentions is, that you are willing to forgive the fact that all the while Cole is talking about his causes he is talking about how he is using it to build his brand. He does want to change the world but he also wants to make a buck.
I honestly don't know if this is a good film or a bad one. I love what Cole is doing but the construction of the film is so self serving and so in the know that the film is hard to get close to. I felt completely out of the loop.
The problem is the film starts with Cole talking about starting his business, failing restarting and doing a show in a tractor trailer and getting his company off the ground. It then breezes through things to the AIDS crisis at which time the film is purely about his causes and how it ties into his brand. There s no sense of who he is, with the film essentially starting at the point most other docs would have taken 10 or 15 minutes to get to. Worse is the fact that the film moves along talking about people, and things with a minimal effort to explain who they are or why they are included. Yes some are people who ended up in ads, but other things are not so clear. There was no ah ha moment in any of it just a race to the next thing.
There is no context, only an assumption that if you are watching the film you know who Kenneth Cole is so you don't need to know anything other than what is on the screen. Back story? Who needs that? That isn't a snide remark, its something I'm saying because this is a hell of a tale about a hell of a guy and if they gave context or explanation they would win a lot more fans. This should have been an award winning film that plays to everyone instead of a film that is going to play best to people who know Cole already.
Worth a look but it should have been better.
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