As I AM: The Life and Time$ of DJ AM

As I AM: The Life and Time$ of DJ AM

The documentary film “As I AM: The Life and Time$ of DJ AM” sings the sad song of Bill Evans, Prince and so many others a ballad of brilliant artists who took their music to new heights while battling self-destructive addiction. A story like this can have its own unique soul when told in the right way, one that’s personal as well as universal, and this electric doc about Adam Goldstein (known to turntable fans as DJ AM) proves it.

Kevin Kerslake directs with panache for his subject’s life as it pertains to what feels like an entire epoch in popular music. He represents a pop period; his mash-up method of mixing one pop song into another was an innovation for clubs that played repetitive house music, which means it was an art form measured not in album sales but gig paychecks and the star power of celebrity clientele. That last sentence is thanks entirely to Kerslake’s documentary, which makes a point to be just as informative about art itself as it is inclusive of the artist.

With seemingly infinite talking heads (Kerslake interviews every DJ worth mentioning Steve Aoki, Diplo, Jazzy Jeff and then some), he presents a friend, innovator, drug addict, sobriety advocate, sneaker fiend, plane crash survivor and scene icon. Goldstein himself says he’s a person of extremes work ethic or shoes or anything else and Kerslake matches that energy with a no holds barred approach to covering so many different facets from so many different people: from the life narrative that saw him go from childhood obesity to cameoing in Jon Favreau’s “Iron Man 2.”

Like many success stories told posthumously (“the first rock star of hip-hop DJs”) there are moments when focusing on DJ AM feels flat; there are times when Kerslake overemphasizes masculinity at play within the story; there’s a bit of tackiness that comes with painting DJ AM as a victim of showbiz, the dollar sign in the title doing none of this any favors.

When DJ Samantha Ronson calls him “a total dude,” it’s both darkly funny and devastating to the scene. But Kerslake keeps it all grounded in his selflessness as a person and work ethic, even if or maybe because he spends so many minutes on how great a guy he was (to his buddies, at least).

“For both fans and non-fans alike, “As I AM: The Life and Time$ of DJ AM” is an intriguing examination of a unique kind of musical genius. This documentary presents up-close footage of his performances in the booth, where he would scratch records with nimble fingers on the dials and switches; we see a mash-up being created, which allows us to appreciate both the process itself and the moment when two completely different pop songs find common ground.

Kerslake, who also serves as his own cinematographer, gives it a busy pop aesthetic that matches its music’s shaping form. His B-roll captures some striking images; for example, one shot shows a turntable spinning so fast that it catches fire a fitting metaphor for Goldstein’s theatricality. While tapes from outlets like Hollywood.

TV are more meat than revelation for this doc having the content but not necessarily providing any deeper or more resonant commentary about fame or access that would ultimately prove detrimental to DJ AM his funeral is invasive; there’s just not as much tragedy in a private moment stolen by cameras later used in another film about another artist like “Amy.”

One smart narrative choice is spending the final 40 minutes on the last year of DJ AM’s life instead of the initial hour’s coverage spanning 34 years. In 2008 (the same year as his plane crash), Kerslake zeroes in on PTSD-paranoid security detail-heavy time period during which he was a spotlighted anti-addiction advocate on an MTV show hosted by celebrity-recovering drug addict while privately trying to stay sober with prescribed pain pills.”

Watch As I AM: The Life and Time$ of DJ AM For Free On Gomovies.