The music business takes center stage in “Kate Nash: Underestimate the Girl,” the appealingly candid documentary that finds the director Amy Goldstein working with her subject to show the financial realities of a career in pop.
The British singer-songwriter Kate Nash had an early rise to fame, winning prestigious awards and scaling charts at 20. Nearly a decade after her introduction to the spotlight, she still has her passion for performing, but her ambitions have become modest. The film’s ho-hum concert footage shows that her venues are small, her lyrics plain and her costumes have a do-it-yourself charm. Nash is simply happy to perform and make a living doing it.
Emphasizing Nash’s lack of pretension, Goldstein follows Nash as she works her way out of a creative rut. The artist has been dropped by her record label and is facing mounting expenses as she funds her own career. She moves to Los Angeles, where she hopes to build secondary sources of revenue by writing songs for aspiring artists and recording for commercials. When her financial plans are interrupted by disappointments and betrayals, the camera watches Nash search for solutions in the moment. Although Nash also sits for interviews, it’s the vérité footage that is most engrossing here, offering the real-time responses of an artist struggling to make ends meet.
The documentary presents a flattering view of Nash, but rather than indulging in hagiography, it finds its stride when it examines the business of being a workaday musician. It is endearing in its frankness: a profile of a star after her return from the firmament.
Kate Nash: Underestimate the Girl
Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 29 minutes. Watch on Alamo on Demand.
Source: Movies - nytimes.com
