Katy Perry: Part of Me the rock version of A Star Is Born

BY MICHAEL S. GOLDBERGER

A point of disclosure before reviewing Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitzs rock tour documentary, Katy Perry: Part of Me: While Im old enough to be her father, the subject, born Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson, is my latest fantasy heartthrob. Oh, its OK. As always, Ive cleared it with my wife. You see, I pick a new Dulcinea every decade or so.

Luckily, my real-life Dulcinea has come to be rather understanding of my hearts whims, much like Polly (Irene Hervey) in Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948), who remains by her husbands side (William Powell) after his fanciful infatuation with a mermaid. Buoyant and entertaining in the usual style of backstage, entre nous tour movies, all that remains to be ascertained is whether or not the awardwinning singer is as genuine, forthcoming and ingenuous as her fluffy image, which has endeared her to youth worldwide.

Interview snippets from fans around the globe, usually dressed in the signature candy-colored attire popularized by their idol, explain it is her individualism her mantra advising that its OK to be yourself thats so enamored them of her.

While Perry possesses strong, welltrained pipes, she is more so a figure of the times, a modern-day Pied Piper who in one skull session with her stagehands and costume designers perplexedly asks, How could something possibly be too cartoony? She is now being challenged with the biggest gig of her life.

The movie showcases her 2011 international 52-week tour as a test of stamina, talent and conviction, with a glop of soap opera tossed in courtesy of her recent marriage to actor-comedian Russell Brand. In case your subscription to National Enquirer has run out, thats now kaput. At any rate, it serves to remind us that each generation has its own ! version of A Star Is Born.

Zooming from city to city, Perry invites our eavesdropping, breaking up the frenetic pace with home videos from her childhood.

Raised in Santa Barbara, Calif., the daughter of Pentecostal ministers, she speaks of her beginnings in religious music. Explaining that it actually took her several years to become an overnight sensation, her sense of showbiz savvy is obvious.

Flirting between candidness and slightly tongue-in-cheek assertions of what it takes to make the big time, she giggles innocently about the inherent appeal of a good girl gone bad. As members of her staff tell how they were pulled from obscurity, we are left to surmise that Perry is both generous and fiercely loyal.

Naturally, shed also like us to believe that her success has not jaded her. Like the princess portrayed by Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday (1953), Perry gives the impression that she may be long deterred from true love. And you know what? We kind of believe it, maybe because its partly true, but mostly because we like the idea.

But most convincing, and most genuine, is the movies focus on the difficulty of celebrity. In one instance, with her marriage in question, she curls up in fetal position on a couch while her staff whispers about the devastation. Childlike, she yells, I can hear you!

Then, in a scene reminiscent of a Bette Davis movie, Katy pulls herself together, beckons makeup, and is in no time fully energized by the wild cheers of the audience, the metronomic beat found in many of the songs drowning out all other doubts.

This movie may not be groundbreaking, but its entertaining. Perry shows us a glimpse of her life, a look at how she has refashioned the path to the American dream. In one of her hit songs, she confides, I kissed a girl and I liked it. Well, Ive seen Katy Perry: Part of Me and I liked it.