Greetings from Tim Buckley
0.5/4
Starring: Penn Badgely, Imogen Poots, Ben Rosenfield
Not Rated (contains brief language and brief sex/nudity)
It's always hard to tear down a movie that is a passion project for its lead actor or director. Such is the case with "Greetings from Tim Buckley." The film's star, the up-and-coming and very talented Penn Badgely, has been a Jeff Buckley fan since he was 17. He even told his agent that if they were making a movie about the singer that he had to do it. Unfortunately, this film doesn't to justice to either its subject or its star.
Actually, that's an understatement. This movie is dreadful. There's no plot, no characters and no dialogue of any interest. The only good things about this movie are the performances by the two leads and the music.
Jeff Buckley (Badgely) is a musician who has just been invited to a tribute concert for his father, the cult musician Tim Buckley (Rosenfield). Because Tim all but abandoned him, Jeff is resentful towards him. But he flies from LA to New York City anyway. There, he meets Allie (Poots), who is helping put on the show. They spend a magical night together (although this is so far off from "Before Sunrise" that it's an insult to Linklater's near-masterpiece).
This is what happens when the need to be indie rules everything. The dialogue is naturalistic to the point where it sounds improvised, but they're not saying anything of any interest. Director/co-writer Daniel Algrant is almost obsessed with the minutia of character interaction. It's meant to make the film seem more real, but a little of this goes a long way, and there's way too much of it. The scene at the record store is a case in point. Jeff sings a song from a record to impress Allie. At fifteen seconds or so, this would have been a magical and amusing scene, but it goes on for a whole minute. The scene overstays its welcome and becomes annoying. The final concert scene is also far too long.
It's not the actors fault. Penn Badgely throws himself into the role. He does his own singing and guitar playing, and he's excellent at both (although some of his improvisational vocalizing is a little irritating at the higher pitches). He has one or two stiff moments in his acting performance, and he's not a very good crier, but those are minor blemishes. Badgely remains an appealing actor. Likewise, Imogen Poots is very good, although she struggles to match Badgely for screen presence (which she has...she held her own with Juno Temple and Eva Green in "Cracks"). Ben Rosenfield is fine as Tim, but his character is superfluous.
Ultimately the film's biggest failing is that it's unbearably boring and completely pointless. The movie doesn't have anything to say about Jeff or Tim, and the characters are not even given one dimension. Jeff, Tim and Penn deserve better.
Starring: Penn Badgely, Imogen Poots, Ben Rosenfield
Not Rated (contains brief language and brief sex/nudity)
It's always hard to tear down a movie that is a passion project for its lead actor or director. Such is the case with "Greetings from Tim Buckley." The film's star, the up-and-coming and very talented Penn Badgely, has been a Jeff Buckley fan since he was 17. He even told his agent that if they were making a movie about the singer that he had to do it. Unfortunately, this film doesn't to justice to either its subject or its star.
Actually, that's an understatement. This movie is dreadful. There's no plot, no characters and no dialogue of any interest. The only good things about this movie are the performances by the two leads and the music.
Jeff Buckley (Badgely) is a musician who has just been invited to a tribute concert for his father, the cult musician Tim Buckley (Rosenfield). Because Tim all but abandoned him, Jeff is resentful towards him. But he flies from LA to New York City anyway. There, he meets Allie (Poots), who is helping put on the show. They spend a magical night together (although this is so far off from "Before Sunrise" that it's an insult to Linklater's near-masterpiece).
This is what happens when the need to be indie rules everything. The dialogue is naturalistic to the point where it sounds improvised, but they're not saying anything of any interest. Director/co-writer Daniel Algrant is almost obsessed with the minutia of character interaction. It's meant to make the film seem more real, but a little of this goes a long way, and there's way too much of it. The scene at the record store is a case in point. Jeff sings a song from a record to impress Allie. At fifteen seconds or so, this would have been a magical and amusing scene, but it goes on for a whole minute. The scene overstays its welcome and becomes annoying. The final concert scene is also far too long.
It's not the actors fault. Penn Badgely throws himself into the role. He does his own singing and guitar playing, and he's excellent at both (although some of his improvisational vocalizing is a little irritating at the higher pitches). He has one or two stiff moments in his acting performance, and he's not a very good crier, but those are minor blemishes. Badgely remains an appealing actor. Likewise, Imogen Poots is very good, although she struggles to match Badgely for screen presence (which she has...she held her own with Juno Temple and Eva Green in "Cracks"). Ben Rosenfield is fine as Tim, but his character is superfluous.
Ultimately the film's biggest failing is that it's unbearably boring and completely pointless. The movie doesn't have anything to say about Jeff or Tim, and the characters are not even given one dimension. Jeff, Tim and Penn deserve better.
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