Rating:
Director: Sam Jones
Producer: Peter Abraham, Sam Jones
Director of Photography: Sam Jones
Cast: Jeff Tweedy, Jay Bennett, Tony Margherita
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AM TRYING TO BREAK YOUR HEART Rating: Director: Sam Jones Producer: Peter Abraham, Sam Jones Director of Photography: Sam Jones Cast: Jeff Tweedy, Jay Bennett, Tony Margherita |
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Review by: Warren
Curry
6/23/02
Sam Jones' new documentary, I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, centers on a very trying year in the life of the popular alternative rock band Wilco. When Jones started rolling the cameras in early 2001, there was no way the filmmaker could have predicted the saga that would ensue. Although the documentary plays a bit too much like something "made by a fan" exclusively "for the fans," the film is another welcome depiction of the strange and often uneasy coupling of artistic idealism and commercial reality.
After recording three albums that established them as a leader in the music genre known as "alt-country," Wilco was standing at a career crossroad. The band felt the need to further push the boundaries of their creative vision and, funded by their record label Reprise Records (owned by AOL Time-Warner), recorded the daringly experimental album "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot." What the label had anticipated as the record that would expose the band to a wider audience, turned out to be the end of the relationship between the two entities. Reprise, at first, asked for changes to be made to the album, but when Wilco refused to comply, the two sides mutually, although not amicably, decided to part ways.
Any fan of Wilco is probably familiar with the basic details of the story, but here we are able to see exactly how it all unfolded, and are also given access to the band's rehearsals, recording sessions, tour-bus trips and other behind-the-scenes activities. Jones' film pushes the right buttons in making the band, and especially guitar player/vocalist Jeff Tweedy, appear to be victimized artistic geniuses. The doc also rolls along at a nice upbeat clip that never dwells on one aspect of the band or their struggles for too long.
What's of equal intrigue with the band/record label confrontation is the internal animosity that developed between Tweedy and guitar player/keyboardist Jay Bennett. Bennett is not painted in a flattering light whatsoever, often times appearing controlling, bitter and even plainly unintelligent. Tweedy is the focal point of the film and also clearly that of the band, and he's a soft-spoken, yet charismatic leader. He lets Jones get up close and personal on a few occasions (perhaps a bit too much so, when we see the effects a migraine headache has on Tweedy), and never appears to be wearing a façade for the camera. The film also includes a few interview clips with Rolling Stone senior editor David Fricke, who does his best to champion the brilliance of Wilco and takes issue with the corporate hierarchy that stood in the band's way.
Although this is an easy to consume, very entertaining film, I still had to ultimately wonder why Wilco was worthy of a documentary. Countless musicians probably share the same difficulties of Wilco, and the film never draws a portrait of them of them as anything other than just being a very good rock band (and the band's music in the film is excellent). Given the nature of the project (i.e. the fact that it's a feature length film), I was expecting some sort of bigger revelation to be made, in terms of the greater significance of the band in a social or artistic context. Because this is missing, Jones' movie feels smaller in scope than it should and, as previously mentioned, can stray too close to fan club worship. Jones does make time for a few of the Reprise executives to tell their side of the tale, and they don't come off completely evil or blind.
I Am Trying To Break Your Heart is a pleasing and sincere tribute to a group of artists Sam Jones obviously felt very deeply about. It might not push as far as it could have (or there may have been no further pushing to be done), but it's a solid filmmaking effort that can be enjoyed by many and treasured by Wilco's fans.
(Screened at the 2002 Los Angeles Film Festival)
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