The history of rock and or roll is littered with sad sack tales of unfulfilled dreams, missed chances and the like. Of course, the Ramones never attained a mainstream sort of success associated with the upper echelon of the rock cognoscenti like the Stones or whoever else. But the band coming out of some borough that wasn’t Manhattan still received international acclaim and could easily be pegged as the reason that punk eventually spread out across the globe.
End of the Century, completed after Joey Ramone’s death, although there’s a wealth of interviews that he’s included in, should have come off as some sort of positive vibe on the punk thing. Sure, they weren’t billionaires, but unless pissing away money on smack or cocaine, each player should have made a hefty sum of money.
Instead, the films director’s Jim Fields and Michael Gramaglia decided to focus on the problems resulting from touring together for something like twenty one years. Admittedly, there were a great deal of conflicts, but the end of the story could have very easily been something like, the band wasn’t necessarily musically adept, but affected change in not just the music industry, but music.
A weird subplot emerges as Johnny apparently stole away Joey’s women. The two are still married and the women’s voice can be heard a bit off screen. It’s one of those moments that should find viewers slack jawed and wide eyed. There’s substance here, but it’s occasionally obfuscated with some weird rock star nonsense.
Of course, Dee Dee Ramone is as interesting as any other miscreant rock has birthed and not as immediately distasteful as Sid Vicious. And while his run ins, uncountable though they each may be, with drug problem made for a decent way to tie in Johnny Thunders and the rest of the junkie crowd in New York, it detracted from the potential of the film to uncover some of the artistic bent associated with early punk groups. Suicide’s Arturo Vega’s various comments about art and the band’s understanding of his vision would have made a compelling addition to the film instead of a brief tangent.
Most distasteful was the ending of the film which finds Dee Dee sauntering down a hotel hallway after being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame while text floats on the screening figuring his death a few weeks later. It was a bummer, but it didn’t have to be. Enlightening either way.