If you’re even a casual fan of Star Trek, I very highly recommend that you watch For The Love Of Spock, streaming now on Netflix.
For die-hard fans of the Roddenberry universe, this documentary is a must-see.
Leonard Nimoy and his son, Adam, began production on the documentary before Leonard’s death in 2015. Hence, some sections of the piece are actually narrated by Leonard himself. No matter the context, it is thrilling to hear his distinctive voice.
More than just a surface look at his life, For The Love Of Spock delves quite deeply into the joy experienced and the troubles wrought through Nimoy’s career as an actor and an icon.
The Motion Picture Actor
A great overview of Nimoy’s acting, singing, and appearing-at-fan-events career is provided.
From his earliest days in television, on through the Star Trek years to his final performances, the documentary does a great job of showing the many facets of the actor.
His career as a director is touched upon, though only inasmuch as it relates to the overall arc of his acting career: he experienced some wonderful highs and unexpected lows.
The Wrath Of Spock
Obviously, the focus of the piece is Nimoy’s time as Spock: first as an actor hoping to keep a job, into his years making money off the character in any way he could, and finally his achievement of the cultural icon status.
At the same time, the documentary plunges us headlong into Adam Nimoy’s parallel experience as the child of the actor/fan favorite/icon.
Some painful family details are shared by both Adam and his sister Julie, as they recount how the explosion of the Spock character affected their already somewhat distant father. As the title of the documentary implies, they were only trying to gain his love.
Though they never doubted their father’s love for them, they experienced what many of us did in relation to our parents. This exploration is truly where the documentary shines.
The Search For Dad
The piece concludes with a series of clips of Adam Nimoy asking various folks about their opinion of his father.
Various Trek luminaries, notably William Shatner and some of the original crew, as well as more recent Trek participants like JJ Abrams and Zachary Quinto, give their thoughts in a one-on-one setting with Adam.
Throughout the documentary, Adam has been informing us of the facts as he saw them, yet it isn’t until Quinto turns the tables and asks Adam to sum up his feelings that we get a chance to see him react. It’s a great moment.
Fascinating…
The most poignant part of the piece is a Leonard Nimoy voiceover, as he reads a letter that he wrote to Adam, expressing some of his deepest feelings about their relationship. It’s simply beautiful and gives us a great look into Leonard’s heart.
As fans of his work, what more could we ask for?
5/5 stars. Watch this one as soon as possible.
Thanks for reading.
Adiós amigos y amiguitas!
HTR
