Why so much hype?

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

I can identify with this movie from a musicians point of view. Open mike nights, discovering different people to be in bands. Age and gender does not really matter as far as the love of the music is concerned. Although there are players too old to be in a band with people so much younger from a career and touring point of view. The hunting for rehearsal space because of neighbor's complaints. The weeding through original songs that are sometimes awful and hard to hurt the writers feelings about their art. I liked the Rudderless band's punk rock cover of the kids song Wheels Of The Bus better than anything Josh wrote. His originals were of the whiny contemporary variety. I don't understand why his ex-girlfriend felt entitled to continue her destruction and try to ruin it for everyone.I almost turned this movie off at track 2 on the DVD because of the bad music and the lack of interesting character names, Sam/Josh. Glad I stayed for the emotional slam given on track 11. I did not see that coming. I have not seen any movies about mass shootings; victims, parents, perpetrators or anyone else involved. I have seen a couple of documentaries about medicated children (given because parents lacked discipline and guidance skills) where that is presented as a cause for the flip out. I couldn't understand the grief of the parents partially because they were affluent. Shame on me, grief doesn't know the difference between wealth and poverty. I now have a greater understanding and humility of both sides because of this film. It is many times better than Rikki And The Flash as far a fake band movies and their story lines go but Rikki's music was better. I rated it 8/10. Better music (to me) would have garnered it a 10/10.

The synopsis for this got me interested. The music helped as well."Was it interesting?" The characters were well thought out. My biggest problem is with the "twist" or "reveal" at the 2/3 mark. Pretty much ruined the rest of the movie for me. I just didn't buy it at all.1.5 out of 3."Was it memorable?" The music was rather good. The cinematography, especially in the montages, was amazing. The ending felt a little flat.2 out of 3."Was it enjoyable?" Until the reveal, it was a good sit. Afterward, I was just waiting for it to end.1.5 out of 3.Starting with 1 (because it's a secret to everyone), 1 + 1.5 + 2 + 1.5 = 6 I can't say it was a waste of time, but probably will never watch again. Was Lawrence Fishburne really necessary? I understand William H Macy.

Sam (Billy Crudup) is a divorced father. His son Josh is killed in a college shooting and he falls into a downward spiral. Two years later, he's a drunk and no longer a successful businessman. His ex-wife Emily (Felicity Huffman) is selling the house and moving on with her new life. She leaves him Josh's stuff which includes tapes of his music. He plays Josh's song which attracts Quentin (Anton Yelchin) who pushes him to start a band.Something about Josh's death seems really off for the first hour of the movie. It holds the movie back a little until the turn. That's part of the reason why the comedy doesn't really work. The other reason is that low energy Billy Crudup isn't that kind of an actor. The dark subject matter does clash with the lightish tones. However, I do like the unconventional story and its off-center aspects. This is not a feel-good musical.

With one word, amazing! There are so many feelings after watching this movie, that I don't know where to begin! An amazing story that even if not true, could as well be. Billy Crudup is awesome and it was a real shock to me when I remembered that he also played in "Almost Famous" (2000)! Both amazing movies by the way!The plot is not really transparent from the beginning and it actually evolves through the movie with some big revealings after the first half of the movie. This came as a shock to us, when some things were made clearer and it really added a lot to the tension of the moment. At the same point in the movie, I thought I could predict what would happen next, but I was completely off, which is a thing that I really appreciate when it happens. Overall, amazing cast, especially Lawrence Fishburn that lighten the mood up as much as it was needed also being a cornerstone character for the movie. His role was so catalytic. I loved all the acting in the movie, I loved all the characters that were placed there making it look like a real case, something that could happen with no flashy or improbable characters. Human, sweet and bitter, with lots of music and some laughs but also lots of emotion and maybe some tears. I LOVED IT!