" data-original-title="" title="">Chicago guitarist's daughter, Michelle Sinclair, helmed the documentary she produced and directed in homage to her late father, this feature is the result of exhaustive research and collation by the late songwriter/producer's son Brett and the story it tells is as vivid a depiction of the music business as the pivotal, but unfortunately still somewhat unsung figure who toiled within it.

Eight years in the making with Bob Sarles, Emmy-nominated film and television editor, producer and director, such labors of love as BANG! aren't usually so objective. But the younger Berns' broadminded and thorough approach not only creates a propulsive main narrative, but also results in an hour of additional content on DVD, the products of which not only belie the cheesy graphic design of the cover art, but superficial preconceptions a viewer may bring to the subject of this film. In the end, The Bert Berns Story deserves to be regarded as a valuable historical document, worth preserving for posterity, precisely because the serious and empathetic approach of all those contributing to it lends prestige to an important figure in the contemporary music business of the Fifties and Sixties. As a result, the documentary should grow in importance over time.

There's a wondrous sense of discovery in the tone of voice (Little) Steven Van Zandt brings to his narration (written by journalist and author Joel Selvin) . It's as if if he's learning in the moment(s) he speaks of all the varying and sometimes conflicting facets of this man and his tales of creativity and in some cases, conniving with self-avowed avowed organized crime fixtures like Carmine "Wassel" DeNoia. The business operations involving such unsavory characters come to predominate the film's themes as the story of Bert Berns' success unfolds: his hit-making savvy grows so lucrative, he goes into business with the principals of Atlantic Records and founds his own label, Bang Records, an achievement rendered all the more remarkable because the man consciously avoided repeating himself in either the r&b or pop/rock idioms.

Accentuated by the sounds of an original score from keyboardist/composer Barry Goldberg (