Nice effects though.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Blistering performances.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

What kind of a documentary about a musician fails to include a single track by the artist himself?! Unlike "Ray" or countless other films about music artists, half the fun in the theater (or on the couch) is reliving the great songs themselves. Here, all the tracks are covers put on by uninteresting characters, and these renditions fail to capture Cohen's slow, jazzy style. More often, the covers are badly sung folk versions. Yuck.The interviews are as much or more with other musicians and figures rather than with Cohen himself. Only rarely does the film feature Cohen reading his own work (never singing)-- like letters, poems, etc. The movie really didn't capture much about the artist's life story, either, or about his development through the years. A huge disappointment for a big Cohen fan.

HUMBLE>>>? Canadians are the most intellectual culture since The French Revolution. We're half French, which the Anglophones of Montreal must overcome with Anglo-Arrogance! There's nothing wrong with this film that a lot of egocentricity won't appreciate! Americans MAY buy the humility that says we don't aspire to FAME but Leonard is more famous than Tony the Tiger! His humility matches the Kelloggs' Rooster that says, "People like YOU like Kellogg's Corn Flakes!" Mr Cohen HAS nothing to be humble about. Everyone poses his wit! Who wouldn't?OK. All kidding aside. EVERY negative review forgets the director's timing which has Cohenesque timing and delivery! This is an impeccable first effort in a milieu that demands a mind sharpened on lyrical witticism. I find no fault with this movie. Leonard could not be more proudly represented. Every guy in the theater can sing his OWN mono-bari-tone Cohernmony. That's why WE love Leonard! WE have a voice!

Oh my god! that Perla Batalla was the star of the movie! I love her. I want more of her. Why have I never heard her before? The movie is fabulous - I love Leonard, but Perla had the most authenticity and beauty of the whole deal. I wish she had more solos. She is beautiful and talented. I can't wait to find out if she has music of her own. Other observations: did Leonard say that Chelsea Hotel was written about Janis Jopin? I must research that but for right now I'm just relishing in my bliss from finally seeing the movie. Was Nick Cave screwing up the words? It seemed that way. I can't wait to learn more about Antony. I've always loved Rufus Wainright but he seems like quite the showboater and even though he did several songs, I perferred Perla Batalla and that other woman. This movie is a must see for anyone who thinks they have excellent taste in music.

There's a moment in this film when Nick Cave describes the reason he first liked Leonard Cohen. Cohen's songs represented everything that Cave's home town wasn't. I suppose the same thing brought me to be a fan of Cohen's. It was never anything I defended. It was a very personal and quiet admiration. But it was also a deep one.Cohen's lyrics had always seemed like elaborate word puzzles to me. Bordering on the bizarre or obscure, they touched me in a place that needed affirmation, songs that acknowledged at the same time my faith and as well as skepticism of the political environment. But there was always that "puzzle" which was playful and mocking at the same time. No one—at least who I admired—did that with their music. When I heard that producer Hal Willner's tribute at the Sydney Opera House had been filmed and opened at Sundance, I was excited because I thought, "Finally someone else likes him too." I hadn't run across that many Leonard Cohen fans in my four decades of admiration. And I had read reviews that quibbled with the various interpretations of songs in the film and what some reviewers felt the filmed lacked. So I went prepared to be disappointed. I was anything but.The quality of the cinematography of Lian Lunson's tribute was the first thing that surprised me. The scenes of performances at the Sydney Opera House are beautiful with the musicians stepping out of inky blackness. The simplicity of the staging and the tight frame on singer's faces gives the film viewer a vantage that the audience in Sydney didn't have. There's a texture which Lunson added that wasn't artsy; I found it artful.And the performances are electrifying. Many have already commented on the Wainwright's and Anthony Hegarty's contributions. So I'll skip that (although Martha Wainwright blew me away). For me, Teddy Thompson's strong folk vocals were the most successful, and I'm pleased the soundtrack gives us an additional track of his performance. With the McGarrigle sister's unearthly harmonies with Martha Wainwright and then Julie Christensen/Perla Battala's performance that leads to the closing of the film, I was moved to tears by the beauty and power of their performance. Battala has a terrific solo album of Cohen's music. If you haven't heard it, seek it out. I suppose if Bono and The Edge agree to be in your film, you're obligated to include as much of what they say as you can. Personally, their praise was redundant and finally uninteresting. And while I'm a fan of their music and admire their philanthropy, I'd had quite enough of their gushing halfway through the movie.What we get of Cohen himself is plenty. For one, he's returning to the stage, and the film leads to that moment with the use of dissolves and overlays of the final performance tacked onto the end of movie. For reasons I don't understand, many people object to that. I thought it was terrific and Lunson teases us at the film's start with the moment of Cohen stepping up to the microphone in a New York cabaret where he gained his notoriety.The long interview with Cohen that is interspersed between the performances has also been a target of critics. But each segment leads quite directly to the next performance with Cohen commenting on the next song, giving us background of either the next song or the performer. Occasionally, he'll talk about himself, but he's not seeking celebrity, and those who kneel at that particular altar will be disappointed. This is a musical tribute and not a biographical film. Like many, I wanted more, but I wanted more of the same. I couldn't wait to see who the next performer was or what they would do with the music. Only Nick Cove sticks to a strict repeat of Cohen's arrangements. Everyone else brings something new and different and often haunting to songs that are already instilled with mystery. And I was grateful that Willner chose not to drag out old saws like Judy Collins, Jennifer Warnes or Buffy St. Marie to give us a reprise of those who popularized Leonard Cohen's songs. The performances in "Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man" are new and fresh, demonstrating each song's timelessness and after 40 years in some cases, relevance.