Movie Review: I'm Your Man

[richardf8]

Precis: Footage of an homage concert to Leonard Cohen framed by commentary from Cohen and the performers.

The good: Cohen's commentary is very illuminating, and his wry, self deprecating humour lends an incredibly gentle touch to the film.

The bad: Self-conciously "artistic" cinematography, including such crimes as shooting in high-speed Super-8 and then enlarging in to 70mm for maximum graininess, and too many excessively tight close-ups of mouths on microphones, as well as double-image special effects seriously mar the films viewability. One or two performances were . . . . strange.

The unforgettable: Cohen performing "Tower of Song" with a band of people influenced by him, including Bono and Rufus Wainwright. Gratitude permeates the stage - gratitude from Cohen that his music will live on the hands of these younger performers, and gratitude from the youngsters for the opportunity to play with Cohen.

The unforgiveable: I went in thinking the film was produced by the Canadian Film Board. However, it was produced by Mel Gibson and released through Icon/Lionsgate. Damn, our money got into that bastard's pocket.

Comments

[deckardcanine.livejournal.com]

Good, bad, unforgettable, unforgiveable. I like that arrangement. Maybe I'll try it on the Grown-Up Movie Forum.

[childings.livejournal.com]

I find it funny that this film was produced by Mel Gibson. I recently saw a trailer for it in the theatre where at one point there is a quote about Cohen from Mel Gibson on the screen. The fact that he also produced this makes that kind of over-the-top if you ask me.

[deckardcanine.livejournal.com]

Question: What do you think of people like Patrick Swayze, Jodie Foster, and especially Dean Devlin? Are they being dishonest with us for their friend's sake? Are they obtuse or kidding themselves? Or might they know something we don't?

[richardf8]

Sorry to take so long.

I see a few things at play.

#1 Mel's one of us, and we must defend him. Sort of a professional courtesy, or, more venially,

#2 Mel's gold at the Box Office, and we want a part in one of his projects, then there's

#3 We all love getting shitfaced, and we know he would jump to OUR defense if we said something stupid, and of course there's

#4 Drunkenness somehow excuses bad behavior, and the state of drunkenness should relieve us of accountability.

In the end, alcohol demolishes the social filters. I will sooner take someone's drunken rant as a true reflection of their beliefs, than their finely worded public statement.

Bottom line: Gibson's an anti-Semite, plain and simple. Why Cohen would have worked on a film he was producing puzzles me, but I can attribute that to the gentle madness that is Cohen and his muse. I wouldn't be surprised if he were oblivious to Gibson's attitudes.