Directed by Julien Temple
Featuring Shane MacGowan, Johnny Depp and Siobhan MacGowan
Running Time: 2 hours and 4 minutes
MPAA Rating: Not Rated

by Ian Hrabe

It is, quite frankly, a miracle that Shane MacGowan is still alive. In terms of musicians who have lived a notoriously hard rock and roll lifestyle, the legendary Pogues frontman might be second only to Keith Richards in terms of being famous for his penchant for drink and drugs. It’s hard to imagine him speaking without slurring. In Crock of Gold--an inventive and engaging chronicle of MacGowan’s life and career--we primarily see MacGowan slumped over with glassy eyes and a drink in hand. He looks as if he is being kept alive by some sort of Irish curse. He has dental implants now, complete with one perfect gold tooth that is, shall we say, a bit more aesthetically pleasing than the teeth that were in a progressive state of decay throughout the 80s and 90s. He looks like a shell of a man, and though he can’t even narrate his own story here--a lot of the footage is of a zonked out MacGowan listening to old interviews--goddamnit, he’s still here. 

Though the drugs and booze and bad teeth are what first come to mind at the mention of MacGowan’s name, the songs come floating up shortly after. “Fairytale of New York,” “Sally MacLennane,” “A Pair of Brown Eyes” and “If I Should Fall From Grace With God” are all enduring classics that spark joy the second they come on. The Pogues’s blend of traditional Irish music and punk rock is a magnificent bit of spectacle that seamlessly blends old traditions with modern energy. They were a band devoid of artifice, true believers who genuinely wanted to share the sound of their homeland with anyone who would listen. Crock of Gold covers MacGowan and the Pogues’s journey in great detail, and in addition to being an outstanding music doc, it’s one of the year’s best documentaries. 

Director Julien Temple does a great job setting Crock of Gold apart from your average talking-head doc. Though MacGowan himself struggles to speak, his story is illuminated by animation and artfully curated archival footage. For instance, who knew there was so much footage of MacGowan rocking out in the midst of the early UK punk scene? It helps connect you to the story being told, and it does so in a way that is as lively and engaging as the Pogues’s music. 

That’s not to say the film is without its faults. For one, it’s about 20 minutes too long and drags in the back half and there are some lifeless scenes when he engages with producer Johnny Depp for the sake of having MacGowan and Depp share the screen. They are apparently buddies, but you get absolutely no sense of what that relationship is like other than Depp’s starry eyed reverence, which is sweet but distracts from the story at hand. That said, those are minor nits to pick and, on the whole, Crock of Gold plays like a loving eulogy told by the person being eulogized. It’s a living wake, of sorts, and, while it looks like MacGowan will be departing this earthly plane sooner rather than later, it’ll still be sad when he’s gone. 

Watch this flick at the DOC NYC Fest from November 11 until November 19, click here for ticket info.