The Devil's Violinist (2013)

THE DEVIL'S VIOLINIST  (2013)  ¢ ¢ 1/2
    D: Bernard Rose
    David Garrett, Jared Harris, Andrea Deck,
    Joely Richardson, Christian McKay,
    Veronica Ferres, Helmut Berger, Olivia d'Abo
Niccolò Paganini makes a deal with you-know-who and gets what he thinks he wants - rock-star recognition for his virtuosity on the violin. It seems like a good idea at the time, but of course there are strings attached. David Garrett plays Paganini and he's a virtuoso himself, with the dreamy look a 19th-century groupie could go for, but there's no edge to his acting, and Paganini definitely had an edge. Jared Harris gets the sinister side of Satan, but in the beginning, at least, the devil has to be seductive, too, and Harris isn't. The movie's dedicated to the late Ken Russell, but it lacks the bad-boy outrageousness Russell brought to his musical biopics. The best way to watch it might be to skip to the musical segments, especially the one in the bar, where Paganini rocks out on one string. How does he do that? Maybe the devil had something to do with it.