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Sep 13, 2019 By Alee Karim Web Exclusive

By turns meandering, charming, pointless, and disarming, the film, As It Was, documents the last ten years in the life of Liam Gallagher, starting from the dissolution of his larger-than-life band, Oasis (and the larger-than-life persona he cultivated therein) to the present day. He’s a much simpler man in 2019, a singer-songwriter who plays to a few thousand fewer fans than he used to and, having largely excised the toxicity of his former life—including an excess of alcohol, drugs, and the extremely tense relationship with his now-estranged brother and former songwriting partner, Noel—is, by all accounts, happier for it. With Liam himself primarily guiding the narrative, abetted by his (other) brother, Paul, and his partner, Debbie, among other close confidantes, we get a fairly one-sided view of the man—every slight an injustice, every victory fated or owed him. Without much irony or outside point of view, the documentary tends to plod. Candid glimpses of Gallagher tooling with a new song or goofing with his family, however, redeem the film. It’s heartwarming to see he’s survived his excesses with his priorities seemingly intact. This probably could have been a long-form magazine piece rather than a feature-length documentary but it’s not without its charms and will prove an especial delight to fans of the man and his music.