It’s All Gone Pete Tong

It's All Gone Pete Tong traces the chemical highs and personal lows of DJ Frankie Wilde (Kaye), king of the Ibiza club scene. He has everything - a big house, a gorgeous wife, a mega-successful career with adoring manager Max (Wilmot) and dancefloors full of fans. But then, as the cockney-rhyming slang title suggests, it all goes wrong. Perhaps it was due to the excesses of his lifestyle, or the consistently high decibel level in his headphones, but Frankie soon finds himself in the career-threatening position of going deaf. To begin, he tries to blag it and fakes his sets, but soon enough this deteriorates into exercises in incompatible noise. With his life falling apart around him, Frankie goes berserk one night and is carried out of his club and out of his world.

But salvation comes in the form of therapist Peneolpe (Batarda), who begins to teach Frankie to lip-read, and Frankie's subsequent discovery that he can feel the music through the soles of his feet... The tragedy of the first part of the film is then superseded by a disarming but immensely likeable romance between Frankie and Penelope.

Shot in mockumentary form, the film attempts to blur the line between fact and fiction, and comes out with its credibility intact. This is in part due to the hedonistic feel of the clubbing environment portrayed, and the host of real-life DJs involved in the project - Carl Cox, Fatboy Slim, Tiësto and the ubiquitous Pete Tong, who interviews Frankie in a doc-within-a-moc situation.

Frankie's downward spiral is harrowing, yet, perversely amusing by the energetic performance of Paul Kaye, the British comedian better known for his Dennis Pennis TV alter- ego. His hilarious running-battle scenes with a six-foot creature called The Coke Badger, is comparable to Johnny Depp's efforts with his bats in Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas.

Avoiding the fate of its title, It's All Gone Pete Tong eventually wins you over with its warmth and offbeat sensibility. Go on, give it a spin!

Alex Coe