Neil Young Trunk Show (2010)

88% of critics liked it
(25 reviews)
81% of users liked it
(99 ratings)

Jonathan Demme gives us some Neil Young musical and spiritual soul. Young on a stage full of personal icons: alone in the center of a circle of his beloved acoustic guitars; in the midst of stellar musicians Ben Keith, Ralph Molina, Rick Rosas, Pegi Young and Anthony "Sweet Pea" Crawford, plus an… More Jonathan Demme gives us some Neil Young musical and spiritual soul. Young on a stage full of personal icons: alone in the center of a circle of his beloved acoustic guitars; in the midst of stellar musicians Ben Keith, Ralph Molina, Rick Rosas, Pegi Young and Anthony "Sweet Pea" Crawford, plus an onstage painter portrayed by Eric Johnson. There are delicately offered acoustic numbers like "Sad Movies" and "Mexico"; mesmerizing electric travelogues into the artist's psyche ("No Hidden Path"); searing, chaotic anthems including "Like a Hurricane" and "Cinnamon Girl"; and rarely performed pieces like "Kansas" and "Ambulance Blues" that provide glimpses of Young's less public persona. In addition to his distinctively blistering and plaintive guitar, Neil draws deep melancholy from an old piano and pats it on the side after like a beloved old dog. He sings his heart out again and again. It is a collection for the ages.

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 22 min.
Directed By: Jonathan Demme
Genres: Documentary, Musical & Performing Arts, Special Interest

In Theaters: Mar 19, 2010 Limited
Studio: Abramorama

Critic Reviews

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News
Demme beautifully captures the show's casual intimacy.
Stephen Cole, Globe and Mail
Like all true filmmakers, Demme also has an eye for telling details.
Peter Howell, Toronto Star
The mix of grainy film and pixel-sharp tape, plus some innovative editing that includes multiple split screens, adds brilliant textures to the piece.
Justin Lowe, Hollywood Reporter
A legendary musician keeps on rocking in this enjoyable slice of live performance.
Mike Hale, New York Times
Looks and sounds like several million bucks.
Tom Long, Detroit News
For serious fans, this is the real Neil, an artist who'll go anywhere his head and hands send him.
Tricia Olszewski, Washington City Paper
You forget you're watching a movie and instead feel like you've got the best seat in the house.
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
For better or worse, this is a straightforward performance film. I feel it's for the worse.
Jim Slotek, Jam! Movies
The nitpicky reservations I have of Jonathan Demme's unadorned (some would call it lazy) concert film, Neil Young Trunk Show, do not offset my full-out recommendation that Young fans run right out and see it.
Annlee Ellingson, Moving Pictures Magazine
Do we really need two Neil Young concert films? By the same director, no less? In three short years? The answer given by Neil Young Trunk Show is emphatically yes.
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press
Neil Young Trunk Show is 82 minutes long, 81 of which are guitar solos.
Shawn Levy, Oregonian
Apparently it's the second film of a trilogy Demme intends on Young -- and the middles are always the hardest parts to get right, yeah?
Ray Greene, Boxoffice Magazine
A marvelous document of a still vital musician whose unbending indifference to pop fashion has proven him more creatively durable than any other figure from the golden '60s moment that gave birth to his career.
Nora Lee Mandel, Film-Forward.com
Young plays a loose, enthusiastic set that is exuberant for its range and energy. Reeks with the authenticity of a hard-working, grown-up music star who does it his way.
Avi Offer, NYC Movie Guru
Sensationally entertaining...Demme captures [Neil] Young's pure, unadulterated passion and love for music in a way that no words can truly [describe].
Peter Sobczynski, eFilmCritic.com
An astonishing portrait of one unique and gifted artist working at the peak of his powers presented by another that deserves a place on the short list of the great concert movies.
Jonathan Zwickel, Seattle Times
Trunk Show demonstrates that at 64 years old, ol' Shakey's never been sturdier.