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Netflix's latest documentary, Shania Twain: Not Just a Girl, chronicling the life of the legendary Shania Twain, was released on July 26, 2022. Produced by Mercury Studios and directed by Joss Crowley, the feature-length documentary followed the rise, abrupt stop, and return of the best-selling female artist in country music history, with an abundance of interviews from prominent figures like Mary Bailey and Harold Shedd.
The one-and-a-half-hour-long documentary was a straight and simple look into the events that took place over the years that led to the rise of Shania Twain. The documentary featured many performances, snippets of music videos, and songs by the iconic figure herself, including her big hits like Not Just A Girl, You’re Still The One, and Man! I Feel Like A Woman!.
Read on for a detailed review of Shania Twain: Not Just a Girl.
Shania Twain: Not Just a Girl review: A simple but informative watch
Joss Crowley's informative approach to the documentary style made sense for Shania Twain: Not Just a Girl as it expertly managed to free the compelling narrative of any superfluous emotion.
In essence, it did make the film a tad too bland. What this ultimately did was make the film appealing to those who were interested in this genre of music or music in general, but it made it difficult for casual viewers to enjoy the film. Of course, it is still an extremely interesting story about an extremely interesting person, but this is more like reading a biodata than an immersive documentary experience.
If we skip past the fact that the film may not adequately cater to viewers who have no prior interest in the field, we can focus on the largely positive aspects of the expository documentary. For instance, the majority of the film contained narration from Shania Twain, which was a crucial element in exploring the rise of the singer. It also had some brilliant archival footage from different parts of her career.
With the help of interviews with other prominent personalities, the documentary also explored how Shania became a household name in the 1990s. The documentary managed to capture the essence of a rising music star, who technically rose to the peak of stardom from nothing. Shania's early life and influences were also skillfully explored with ample details.
One of the best things about Shania Twain: Not Just a Girl was that it did not overwhelm viewers with information, something that documentaries like this one usually do. Keeping the entire narrative streamlined made it extremely easy to follow, and though there was no inherently glorious narrative, this factor may have made the film more appealing to casual music fans.
The documentary was aided by a brilliant track list containing hits from Shania Twain like What Made You Say That, (If You’re Not In It For Love) I’m Outta Here!, Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?, Any Man Of Mine, You Win My Love, Don’t Be Stupid (You Know I Love You), and I’m Holdin’ On To Love (To Save My Life) among many others.
This was, of course, not the greatest music documentary, but for what it was, it was a straightforward, honest account with lots of interesting content.
Shania Twain: Not Just a Girl is now streaming on Netflix.
