Stylish but barely mediocre overall

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Great idea for a film and worth remaking -- even with most of the same footage. Inspired by Studs Terkel's book _Working_ ... the cover says. I read that book and greatly admired it almost 35 years ago. There's no rule against commentary... there sure was plenty in the book -- by the subjects themselves.I wish someone would weave this film together more. (A "fly on the wall" is not a point of view. Personally, I like to have a couple of houseflies in the room. I find them comforting and beautiful. But I don't wait for them to tell the story of musicians.) The film makers may have believed narration or commentary would detract from the flow. And it's a huge chore to do it well -- narration for this film would be like the effort of producing a three or four excellent songs -- a huge effort! The film was released in a hectic time in our country, which may have compressed the film makers' budgets or personal time. Good production values --- worthy on-screen subjects and sound -- just needs more of the excellent emcee work which the film makers surely can arrange.