A few months ago I wrote a blog post about Cameos, I particularly enjoy it when musicians cross over and play a (bit) role in films as opposed to simply appearing as themselves or musicians. Song One (2014), written and directed by Kate Barker-Froyland goes against this notion by featuring The Felice Bros, Sharon Van Etten and others as nothing more than bands. Sums up this unoriginal film immediately.
This story has been told previously, a number of times. Henry (Ben Rosenfield), suffers a life threatening injury, while his sister, Franny (Anne Hathaway), feels regret for heading to Africa a few months earlier on bad terms. Questioning whether she will ever get the chance to say “I’m sorry”, and then contemplating her own existence, Franny tries to re-create her brothers last steps. As such, she attends a concert of Henry’s idol, James Forrester (Johnny Flynn), a singer-songwriter with writer’s block and promptly falls in love with him. Too bad the plot is meandering. I do like the European style ending however.
Stylistically, this film is jumpy and nervous, with quick MTV style editing. Also, I think we see more backs of head, as this film is shot in Aaronofsky-style fashion, hand-held for that “indie” effect. However, there are some great urban-city scape shots in this film.
Also, this film is in love with it’s access to source soundtrack material. Jenny Lewis and Jonathan Rice wrote the score and songs that Flynn performs within the film, a veritable “scene stealer”.
Now, I’ve highlighted all of the negatives of this film but guess what…I liked it! I’m a sucker for that indie feel, music-centric mellow drama. Anne Hathaway puts on a good performance as does Johnny Flynn. In a coma for much of this movie but check out Ben Rosenfield as the lead role in Greeting From Tim Buckley (2012). Also, anything featuring Hudson Valley musicians such as the Felice Bros. has got my attention immediately.
Available at Redbox, though I would wait to stream it on Netflix. The soundtrack and musical production saves this film from wasting away into the abyss.
- Subject: 3.0
- Camera: 3.5
- Style: 3.0
- Soundtrack: 4.0
- Overall: 3.0
- Total: 3.30