Entertainment

The Love We Make

The magical mystery that is Paul McCartney may never be solved, but for fans (the line forms behind me), the new documentary “The Love We Make” includes some memorable displays of his world-conquering charm.

The black-and-white film, by Albert Maysles and Bradley Kaplan, follows McCartney around Manhattan in late 2001 as he does media interviews, deals with fans and stages a post-9/11 benefit concert.

Matey and unpretentious (he sent his kids to public schools so they wouldn’t turn into snobs), McCartney is seen blithely strolling about this city chatting with fans (among celebrities, you’d think only Yoko Ono would be less at ease doing so) and going to Howard Stern’s studio — where Ozzy Osbourne says that to meet him has been a lifetime ambition. “After the burglary?” says McCartney, referring to an early occupation of Osbourne’s. Watching Bill Clinton suck up to McCartney gives you an idea of his impact.

McCartney nevertheless remains an enigma in plain sight. Two subjects that go unmentioned here are his now-ex-wife, Heather Mills, though he was touring to promote an album that was largely about her, and the fate of George Harrison, who was dying of cancer and would perish the following month. Nor does the documentary, arriving far too late, have much new to say about 9/11, but McCartney gets across the overwhelmed feeling of the post-attack days with one neat line. “People say, ‘I’m sure you heard about yesterday,’ and it’s like, ‘Which bit of it?’ ”