'Can't Stand Losing You Surviving the Police' DVD & BD: The Summers of Discontent

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Uber-awesome documentary film company Cinema Libre Studio continues the recent trend of releasing titles that show that truth is stronger than fiction. This validation comes in the form of "Can't Stand Losing You Surviving the Police," which is separately coming out on DVD and Blu-ray on July 14 2015. This chronicle of The Police guitarist Andy Summers is so closely based on Summers' memoir "One Train Later" that he reads from the work several times in "Can't."

Anyone with any sense of '80s music knows that The Police arguably is one of the top 10 groups of that decade. Although much of their music has an edge, "Can't" identifying this band (which consists of Summers, front man Sting, and drummer Stewart Copeland) as punk rockers seems to stretch the definition of that genre.

The following clip, courtesy of YouTube, of the hilariously absurd Police video for "Don't Stand So Close" is being provided to provide current fans fun nostalgia and to introduce future fans to the group. The goofy dancing alone makes this one "must see."

The following clip, also courtesy of YouTube, of the trailer for "Can't" is designed to provide a sense of the "behind the music" and the auto-biographical aspects of the film. The unusually comprehensive nature of this short provides a glimpse of virtually every major theme in the film.

The comprehensive nature of "Can't" starts with the interesting circumstances of the wartime England birth of Summers and seemingly continues to the period right before the 2012 theatrical release of the film. Highlights for Police fans include documentation of the random circumstances leading to the forming of the band, the early days of the trio, the genesis (pun intended) of "Roxanne," their rise and fall, and the 2007 reunion tour.

The coverage of the pre-Police life of Summers includes his history with a successful '60s group, his subsequent rough times (including an unfortunate incarceration), and his active social life.

The aforementioned "behind the music" aspects of "Can't" largely focus on the dynamics of the group that have Summers and Copeland playing Joyce DeWitt and John Ritter to Sting's Suzanne Somers. The parallels with the "Three's Company" cast extend to having the three musicians record in separate studios.

Summers additionally shares terrific insights regarding being a rock star in the '80s; the segments (including totally tubular clips) that address the "video killed the radio star" MTV aspect of that era are especially entertaining. Watching him and his band mates charmingly joke through interviews even as Sting increasingly dominates the spotlight further contributes to the fun of this portion of the film.

Summers the person generally comes across as an ordinary bloke with a family and who feels the stress of a demanding job that requires a great deal of traveling. This candid portrayal presents him as someone with whom you would not mind sharing a pint, but not as a rock god regarding whom you would sell you soul to meet.

Anyone with questions or comments regarding "Can't" is welcome to email me; you can also connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.