Director Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow, Go, Swingers) brings the swagger, surrounding his star with
enough lively pacing and entertaining presentation to avoid the usual trappings of Cruise vanity projects.
Overall, conventional, overstylized and unevenly
paced storytelling, backed by some atmospheric coldness, render the final product undercooked, unfocused and all around decidedly underwhelming, but
lively style, a strong soundtrack, a clever script and plenty of colorful performances drive
enough intrigue and entertainment value to make «CBGB» a messy, yet ultimately decent dramatization of the rise of the underground rock era of the mid-1970s.