We never thought that we’d catch this love bug again!
The Jonas Brothers have become an international sensation with their multiple sellouts at Madison Square Garden, their various awards under their belts, and their achievement of going platinum since their Disney inception. However, depending on which generation you’re a part of or where along the journey you decided to start jamming out to their music, you may simply know them as Joe, Nick, and Kevin.
Over the years, there have been tidbits of information about the band’s split since their announcement that shocked fans on an ABC interview in 2013. And Chasing Happiness is the story that fills in the gaps of that conversation.
The documentary follows the brothers’ journey from where we last saw them in the public eye as a band to present day, more or less. Taking place at Joe’s house in Australia back in early 2018 when he was a part of The Voice, Nick and then later Kevin joined him as they sat around the table and fished out very thought-provoking and emotion-inducing questions from a bowl. This was the first time they’d been together, just the three of them as brothers, in 6 years. And instead of displaying them as a collective unit, there are a variety of twists and turns which provides the viewer with a front row seat into a supercut of their childhood.
In many ways, Chasing Happiness is a celebration of the rejuvenation the band’s career. To those of us who grew up with siblings, we know that childhood is the starting line of sibling rivalry and competition, and it lays the groundwork for where each child falls in regard to the family’s dynamic. You might identify with high-achieving Nick, or perhaps jovial Joe. Or, in a segment of the documentary that will most likely require you to grab the tissues, you might realize that you identify with Kevin, who didn’t necessarily think he belonged anywhere.
The combination of Grant MacDowell’s editing with the archival snapshots gives a personal touch which makes the Jonas Brothers so human and relatable.
There are several scenes depicting the hardships they had to undergo which has us rooting for their inevitable success, including traveling to the location where they sang in public for the first time: the Assemblies of God Church where their father was Minister — and later was pushed out of because of the contrast between the type of music they were producing and what was expected.
In union with the breathtakingly rendered cinematography are two new tracks off their new album, Happiness Begins, which comes out this Friday, June 7: “Rollercoaster” and “Comeback,” which transport the excitement of having the brothers together once again in our lives, whilst still recognizing the new breath of life brought back into their relationship.
Chasing Happiness exhibits a kaleidoscope of lessons the brothers have learned about themselves to be better people and better brothers. And fans get to see that, while the time apart was long and difficult for us fans, it was imperative to bring them back together, inspired and better than ever.
