Kritiken

Harvey is detail-oriented, good-humored, intimately involved and encouraging of her fellow musicians. The tunes she crafts for the resulting record are intricate and eclectic, but still honor the raw directness of her early work.

Harvey is mostly a watchful observer with a notebook; sometimes she reads lines of poetry she’s jotted down on the voiceover. But we barely see her interacting with anyone on the ground, which gives the whole thing an impersonal feel.

It’s often striking but at times feels close to misery tourism... There’s no doubting Harvey’s musical clout, nor the gravity of the problems in the places she visits. I’m just not sure how coherently they go together. Or how tastefully.

Music emerges as a liberating Esperanto in the film, Harvey enjoying the ingenious freestyle rapping of black kids from one such ’hood, Anacostia, and jamming with Kabul musicians.

On one hand, Harvey’s creative generosity is laudable, and she is self-critical enough for this entire endeavour not to seem trite. Yet seeing the creative process writ large has the effect of diminishing the impact of the music, divesting it of all mystique and ambiguity.

A Dog Called Money captures turbulent moments in time through creative reportage but it can feel a little arm's-length; as a portrait of global catastrophe and oppressive capitalism, it really needed to dig deeper.

If you’ve ever wondered what the boredom threshold is for watching a musician tuning a hurdy-gurdy, you’ll find the answer here.

Murphy's free-ranging choice of material is also baffling at times... There are teasing glimpses of artistic genius in A Dog Called Money, but eccentric choices and muddled intentions, too. A talent as strong and singular as Harvey deserves a more probing, less indulgent film than this.

A Dog Called Money certainly does look and play different to the average behind-the-scenes music doc but not for any discernible, compelling reason.

The songs that we see written, composed and recorded in A Dog Called Money reveal an often intimate creative process, illustrating how Harvey’s engagement with the world – in all its richness and diversity – is given voice through her music.