What makes it different from others?

One of the best films i have seen

Did you people see the same film I saw?

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Reading through the other reviews, obviously the majority are massive fans of Townes Van Zandt (as I am) and their views are from the side of people who were already very familiar with Townes and his combination of self-destructiveness, married with some of the most sublime songwriting ever heard. However, what about if you were one of the people who had never heard of Townes (and lets face it, he was largely a cult figure)and you watched this film from the perspective of trying to learn something more about the man. Would you know more about what made him so selfish, so distant to those that he professed to love. Would you have learnt about why he chose to play guitar, what he read or absorbed to be able to write such perfect prose. Who were his musical influences apart from Lightning Hopkins? In my opinion this film does not answer these questions satisfactorily, if at all. In that way I found the film lacking depth and substance. Make no mistake, I loved being able to see Townes play live. I loved hearing largely gushing comments about his talent (Steve Earle excepted with his story about Townes playing Russian Roulette), but somehow this film left me uninvolved and without any deeper knowledge about the life of Townes Van Zandt. As I said in the title - In a word - Frustrating.

Greetings again from the darkness. The wait for this one to hit Dallas has been long and painful. Just mentioning the name Townes Van Zandt gets me all weepy and longing for those many nights in Austin between the mid 70's and early 80's. Although I only saw him perform live three times, his influence on the Austin music scene was unmatched.Margaret Brown's directorial touch on this bio-documentary is filled with love, admiration, respect and a harsh dose of reality. Townes was not the typical inflated ego icon so familiar in the music business. Yes, he drank entirely too much and yes, he did way more drugs than any one body could possibly handle. But hearing fellow musicians, three wives and numerous children talk about him, affirmed one thought that I had always clung to: the man had soul.There are some fascinating film clips of Townes both living life and on stage at various times throughout his "career". When we hear the spoken words "he is here for the music", it all makes sense. We see him unkempt, living in a lousy trailer and in his constant state of gauntness. This man was born to write songs and he did it better than anyone. Near the opening, Joe Ely tells the story of how listening to Townes' first record, forced he and Jimmie Gilmore to totally change their approach to songwriting. Folks, that is talent and power.The reverence in the voice of Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and Steve Earle (three fine songwriters in their own right) as they recollect how Townes touched their music is very base and raw. This is no Hollywood love fest of a dead character actor. This is pure respect from those who truly understand the gift.The documentary is pretty well paced, but my one quibble is that we do not get to hear Townes perform a song all the way through until he sings "Marie" sometime past the midpoint. Also, I don't believe we had a single track from the "Carnegie Hall" show. That said, there are so many songs included, even if only for a verse, that it will provide a tremendous overview to anyone not already touched by the man's music.We cannot help but be saddened as the talk of his shock therapy and subsequent change in personality are detailed. Also, hearing his kids speak of him is almost invasive, but what a remarkable gift to the film this is.One of the producers is the great and under-appreciated Louis Black. He was involved in a film class I took at the University of Texas many years ago and has since gone on to edit an Austin paper and found the SXSW music and film festival. I feel certain his insight was invaluable to the film and sense that Townes Van Zandt music impacted his life the way it did many of us.

This is a wonderful documentary about a songwriter almost universally acknowledged to be one of the best, if not, the best country/folk songwriter of the last 50 years. Many friends, including such notables as Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Steve Earl, Emmylou Harris and Guy Clark, give some of their remembrances and evaluations of his work. There are lots of interviews with Townes, as well a several performances lovingly sung by him and others. All in all, a beautiful documentary. Now for some personal gripes, mainly calling for another hour or so in a 99 minute documentary: 1) I would have liked more complete, uninterrupted, performances. The director clearly did not want this to be a concert film, but at least one complete, uninterrupted performance would have been nice. 2) The beautiful Tecumsen (Tecumseh) Valley song is not sung or mentioned. This was a great disappointment for me, having lived with Nanci Griffith's as well as Townes' version of this great song.*** POSSIBLE SPOILERS *** The depiction of Townes' mental problems as well as his drug and alcohol problems were frankly discussed by friends and relatives. One could be saddened by his early demise, but not surprised.

Even if you're not a fan of documentaries, hell, even if you're not a fan of folk/country, Be Here To Love Me is a beautiful and well-directed story of the life of singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt. More than just a movie for hardcore fans of the genre and the artist, the impeccable visual style of the movie keeps the average movie-goer enthralled within it's heartfelt and hilarious interviews of friends, family, and musical contemporaries give dialogue almost too good for a movie.But then you're reminded that it's a documentary; it's fairly easy to forget. The only narration is the actual audio, be it phone calls (such as in the amazing opening sequence to "At My Window"), home movies, live performances, or the music itself. The camera pans across montages of midwest scenes: old men in the old mens' bars, truck driving, wandering through the desert, and so many others that play like one gorgeous, intermittent music video. Some of the dialogue is unforgettable, be it Townes discussing his addiction to airplane glue, Guy Clark laughing at him hitting on his wife, or his own mother expressing sorrow for exposing him to shock treatments early in his life.The overall pace of the movie becomes disrupted near the last 20-30 minutes, as the overall flow of themes in Townes' life unfold less and less precisely and with as much organization as the beginning, but that's basically the only flaw to an otherwise brilliant documentary.Not knowing much about Townes as a person, I can say that this movie helped me fall in love with his music and find new respect for the genre. I recommend it to anyone who loves this man, loves these kinds of quirky stories, loves country/folk, or... well, I recommend it to anyone!