Greetings from Tim Buckley

Daniel Algrant – 2012 – USA

Uneven, sentimental parallel biography of singer-songwriters Jeff Buckley and his father, Tim Buckley, both of whom died tragically in their late 20s. It’s not a bad film and in fact is very well-done in many aspects. It feels light, though; and whether that’s due to lack of creative direction or just budget I’m not sure. Jeff’s story is the primary focus, set in 1991 during his visit to New York to participate in a tribute to his famous father, and it’s interspersed with occasional flashbacks to Tim in the 60s. Jeff barely knew his father, who wasn’t present during his childhood at all, and – despite sharing his musical talent – is generally unimpressed with the legend that has built up around Tim Buckley’s persona. He’s not positive he wants to pay tribute to the man at all, and at times seems on the verge of denouncing him as a fraud unworthy of his popularity. Tim, at the same age, twenty years earlier, is shown struggling to achieve his artistic goals in the face of social constraints, especially family and domesticity. The Godfather II-inspired back-and-forth between generations is the film’s strongest concept, and the dual themes of fathers and sons and the artistic quest are powerful. They aren’t well supported by the production, though. It’s apparent that writer-director Daniel Algrant was extremely interested in the Buckleys, but his direction is utterly pedestrian, too often making the film look like a made-for-TV movie. Similarly, Penn Badgley, who stars as Jeff, seems a bit in over his head. It’s apparent that he was cast for two very hard-to-argue-with reasons; his singing ability and his remarkable resemblance to the real Jeff Buckley. (I was surprised to learn that Badgley actually sang all of the songs himself.) His work is admirable, but I was frequently distracted thinking about how much stronger the film could have been with a more substantial actor in the lead role – (perhaps Joseph Gordon-Levitt or Andrew Garfield), even if it meant sacrificing the look-alike factor. Ben Rosenfeld, who plays Tim Buckley, might have even been better as Jeff. The film’s fatal weakness is its recurring depiction of what I can only call “quirky-starving-artist syndrome.” Instead of basing his scenarios on anything realistic, Algrant seems to believe that loveable, shaggy-haired, arty twenty-something guys spend their days moping about the phoniness of mainstream society and skipping about in public while making impulsive outbursts to announce their free-spiritedness as blatantly as humanly possible. Some of these episodes are not only cringe-inducing but downright tedious. Tim and Jeff both are portrayed as more likely to cajole girls into jaunting down the road with them than putting in any actual work to hone their skills as musicians or to forge careers. You want to be in tune with Jeff’s dilemmas and heartaches, but it’s too difficult when faced with Algrant’s ham-fisted shooting of the bland and smug Badgley.