It Might Get Loud is entertaining, informative and endearing portrait of three players and the instrument they love: the electric guitar

It Might Get Loud

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The three guitarists couldn’t be more different. One is a young garage-rocker obsessed with beat-up instruments and dusty old blues records. The next is a veteran pop star preoccupied with pedals and technology that will make his guitar sound like a chorus of bells. And finally, you’ve got the ultimate guitar god, a virtuoso who plays with a skill and a swagger that has inspired generations of teenage boys to learn his famous riffs. The White Stripes’ Jack White, U2’s The Edge and Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page don’t seem to have much in common other than their mastery of the six-string, but the documentary It Might Get Loud shows audiences — and the men themselves — that they share more than one might think.

It Might Get Loud is an entertaining, informative and genuinely endearing portrait of three players and the instrument they love: the electric guitar. Director Davis Guggenheim (the skilled hand behind An Inconvenient Truth and the Obama infomercial) has created an engrossing film, following each player’s journey from being kids bashing out a few chords through to their superstar statuses. We learn that the Edge built his first guitar with the help of his brother, that Page started out as a teenage skiffle sensation and that White stumbled upon his first guitar as payment for helping someone move (he happened to own a truck). What really shines through, though, is each man’s genuine love of music. These guys might all be coming from different places, but their hearts are still in the music, which is why their playing resonates so strongly.

Upping the ante, Guggenheim actually gets White, Page and the Edge together for a “summit,” where they talk about music and play together. While the three initially seem leery of one another (Edge does mention that U2 formed in protest to the bloated rock bands of the ’70s that indulged in 15-minute guitar solos — one of Page’s specialties), but a camaraderie quickly forms, with Page naturally playing the role of gentle teacher. One of the film’s most priceless moments is when Page launches into the opening riff of “Whole Lotta Love” and White and Edge look on in unadulterated reverence.

It Might Get Loud is a love letter to the guitar, to these musicians and to music in general. If only to see a 60-something Jimmy Page gleefully playing air guitar to Link Wray’s “Rumble,” this film is an absolute must-see for any real music fan.