Fleetwood Mac

What exactly is Destiny Rules? The documentary seems to begin where Fleetwood Mac left off when they imploded at the beginning of the '80s: Stevie nicks hasn't slept in four days and is coming undone while the other members look haggard and nervous. Jump-cut to some playback and suddenly there's magic. For a second, the greatest non-punk band to fight its way out of the '70s is back. Insert applause here. Destiny Rules chronicles the creation of the mostly reformed (minus Christine McVie) Fleetwood Mac's first studio album in 15 years. Is it honest filmmaking? Ostensibly yes. When they're in the same room together, the governing dynamics of Fleetwood Mac are still very much in place. Fleetwood and McVie still coddle and pander to Stevie Nicks while simultaneously nurturing Buckingham's narcissistic tendencies. The revealing sequences in Destiny Rules are when the members are caught alone on camera. Amazingly, the members of the band still can't be honest with one another, but they can be honest with a camera. Everyone still can't stand everyone else and they think they're above each other. It seems Fleetwood Mac's dysfunctional family is ready to blow apart again, but it doesn't. In fact, they're brilliant. Fleetwood Mac still makes incredible music together and they probably couldn't do so if they got along. At some point, everyone forgets themselves and just makes a good record. The collage nature of the film offers the "fly on the wall" feeling (in some cases turned on just to catch the audio of a fight) and gives the audience both the good and bad moments during the recording and mixing process, as well as giving the impression that nothing's been held back. With that in mind, it's rather surprising that the band allowed the documentary to come out. The only reason, I'm guessing, is that the movie paints no one in a particularly flattering light. Destiny Rules is concrete evidence for beauty being able to emerge from chaos. (Sanctuary)