It’s not so much about David Bowie (admittedly a saddening aspect given it’s not the documentary fans deserve) as it is about the traveling exhibition of David Bowie’s art, costumes, and overall image.

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t check out David Bowie Is, set to show at Long Beach’s Art Theatre for three exclusive engagements. After all, the documentary’s central subject—the art exhibition by the same name that was coordinated by London’s Victoria & Albert Museum—was such a rare and hyped exhibition that it made only one stop in the US (currently at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago) and will be running only through January. Surely this makes the film a kind of second-hand thrill but it does allow you a peek at the 400+ objects, largely culled from the David Bowie Archive itself, that the massive exhibition shows off.

Even if you’re not a diehard Bowie music fan—as in being like one of the 25 men and women who showed up in from the Museum of Contemporary Art in full Bowie regal when the exhibit opened—you are talking about the man who has inspired everyone from Cindy Sherman to Lady Gaga. From conceptual art to makeup, Bowie has had an influence that few humans, let alone rockstars, achieve.

Take, for example, the plethora of stimuli you’ll find if you’re into fashion: the film navigates through the exhibitions sixty stage costumes including the Ziggy Stardust bodysuits from ’72 and designed by Freddie Burretti and flamboyant creations for the Aladdin Sane Tour in ’73 designed by Kansai Yamamoto, who is featured prominently in the documentary. We’re talking the Union Jack coat designed by Bowie and Alexander McQueen for the 1997 Earthling album cover.

For the historian, there’s an examination of handwritten set lists, never-before-seen storyboards, the legends own sketches…

And for the film buff, it is directed by BAFTA winner Hamish Hamilton.

“This documentary brings to life how David Bowie embraced creativity from a variety of fields including performance art, music, dance, theater, and the visual arts, and fostered collaborations with artists of all kinds throughout his life,” said Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art’s chief curator, Michael Darling.

Opinion respected but let the audience be the ultimate determiners of that.

David Bowie Is is set to screen at the Art Theatre, located at 2025 E 4th St., at 11PM on November 28, and 11AM on November 29 and 30.

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