Cable documentaries have always tread a thin line between informed reporting and tie-in fluff, and for the most part, A&E’s Biography has always been ahead of the curve (though I think that anyone who remembers the late 90s heyday of VH1’s Behind The Music misses it). As a result, their program documenting the rise to fame of the Harry Potter kids comes across as a sort of weird hybrid of styles, combining some actually interesting pieces of information with the sort of interviews and footage that you might expect to see in an E! True Hollywood Story about the films. But then again, some of that is probably unavoidable for any documentary program chronicling the lives of people not yet twenty years old, or the fact that no matter how well-produced it is, no movie tie-in show can never help but feel like just that: an ancillary product to the main promotion.
The truth is that if you’re a Harry Potter fan, you probably already know the vast majority of the information presented in this documentary. It opens with the already well-documented story of J.K. Rowling’s rise from being a single mom on welfare to becoming the wealthiest woman in Britain and the highest paid novelist in history. Then it moves on to the purchase of the film rights by Warner Brothers, which of course leads to the international search for the appropriate star. Ending finally with the ultimate casting process, which is recalled fairly lovingly by all three of the stars here. Naturally, their subsequent rise to fame and acquisition of positively obscene amounts of money is explored.
In a move that should surprise absolutely no one, the bulk of this documentary is spent detailing the life of Daniel Radcliffe(Harry Potter, in case you’ve been living in a cave), with the subsequent bits on Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) and Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley) feeling almost like begrudged afterthoughts. And admittedly, the show does a pretty good job of detailing his rise to respectability, climaxing with his Broadway turn in the revival of Equus (a show that features full-frontal nudity), and makes a solid case for all three being underestimated performers still coming into their own as they mature into adulthood. Unlike other child stars (the professional demise of Macauley Culkin is given some attention here), these three actually seem to have their heads on their shoulders, and might have some longevity beyond this series.
There are some interesting tidbits along the way, such as the battle to pick a director considering Spielberg and Gilliam were two names that were bandied about early on, with the latter being Rowling’s first choice. It takes a look at some of the career choices made by the stars; for example, Grint starred in a film called Thunderpants, which is apparently all about farting explosively. Also addressed is the somewhat awkward acknowledgment that at some point on the set of the final film, Grint and Watson are going to have to make out before cameras for audiences around the world, which is certainly going to be very strange for the two people who have grown up together and probably not much easier for the rest of us who knew what they looked like when they were twelve.
On the whole, the quality of the information presented and of the interviews is well above what you would expect of this sort of thing (certainly better than those pre-release shows that they used to have on FOX), and induces no unwelcome sugary headache like so much celebrity-based media does. But it knows its audience is the Harry Potter fans who probably know all of this stuff already, and it plays to it. By the end, you’re not likely to feel initiated if you don’t already.
"Biography: Harry Potter Kids" is on sale June 30, 2009 and is rated NR. Documentary. Directed by Lincoln Square Productions. Starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint.
