All Things Must Pass

Tower Records, which began as a corner of a drugstore in Sacramento selling records, became the best-known record chain in the world within thirty years and collapsed in 2006. The documentary tells the rise and the fall through founder Russ Solomon and former employees. Colin Hanks directed his first feature documentary. What is interesting is that it does not pin the collapse on one cause. The internet and illegal downloading are covered, but the emphasis falls on the company's rapid nineties expansion, its debt and its mistakes in overseas investment. The employees' accounts are the body of the film. The company promoted store managers from behind its own counters for years, and that culture became the institution's identity. Elton John, Bruce Springsteen and Dave Grohl appear briefly. The emotional register dominates; the film is less about a business failing than about losing a place. Who it is for: viewers who remember music retail and record shop culture. Who it is not for: anyone wanting business analysis; the film does not go far into the numbers.