‘Paul McCartney: Man on the Run’ is unique and intriguing

By Amelia Morris

Paul McCartney, known best as a member of the Beatles, has had a successful music career after the band parted ways. This documentary follows McCartney as he continues to make music, both in bands and as a solo act.

The documentary, “Man on the Run,” concentrates on what came after the Beatles broke up, honing in on McCartney’s career in the 1970s. The story is crafted only from old footage of events that are narrated purely by interviews, with McCartney himself doing much of the talking. He recalled his life and was a great storyteller throughout the film. 

The documentary begins after the Beatles split up, following McCartney as he retreated to Scotland to his farm house with his young family. There, he continued to write and play music. Eventually, he felt the need to go on tour again so, with his wife, McCartney founded his new band, Wings.

Over the years, the members of Wings changed several times. They definitely experienced a rocky start with fans because they could not live up to the impossible standard of the Beatles. McCartney wanted to be a member of a band but the fans wanted him to sing solo.

The new band brought about a new sound, a new style and a new era for McCartney. Not everyone was a fan but most followed him because of his famous history. 

The documentary was given the name “Man on the Run” after Wings’ hit song in 1973 of the same name. “Man on the Run” was the first big success McCarthy had after the Beatles and made all his hard work over the years seem worthwhile.

McCartney released two solo albums and seven other albums with Wings. It was not until John Lennon’s assisination in 1980 that McCartney decided to call it quits. The documentary archives those events and the true devastation McCartney felt after the passing of his best friend. 

Overall, the documentary was informative. With the unique nature of McCartney’s life, I liked the narrower focus on the lesser known areas of his career. The pacing throughout was logical. Over a decade of stories were compiled into this two hour documentary chronologically, that was– no easy feat.

The documentary is a mixed-media presentation, using stop motion and animation to bring the 70s to life. Most of the animations provide transitions bringing viewers in closer to the story. Other times, the animations are jarring and move too fast.

Notably, the interviewees of the documentary are never shown. To introduce when new people are talking, there is simply a lower third graphic and maybe an old photo or video close up of them. Because of this, it is difficult to know who is narrating the story. 

There is so much happening on screen that I wanted to pay attention to that I often missed the lower third. Additionally, there were several British male voices, which were hard to distinguish between.  

I discovered so much about McCarthy from this documentary. I just wish the narration could have been more clear on who was talking and who they were. 

I did enjoy the use of first hand accounts from McCarthy and the various band and family members. The videos and photos were authentic, I was surprised they had so much content and was thankful they included it. 

The Beatles were just a part of McCarthy’s career. He knew he had something more to share with the world. Unfortunately, the world did not care about his new endeavors. They only wanted the Beatles back and McCarthy will always be known best for his role in the band. Hopefully, with “Paul McCartney: Man on the Run,” the world can realize what they may have missed.

“Paul McCartney: Man on the Run” is currently streaming on Prime Video. 

Amelia Morris is a freshman journalism major and writer for Cedars A&E. She loves reading, writing and being in nature with her dogs.

Photos courtesy of Tremolo Productions, MPL, and Polygram Entertainment.