One-Trick Pony

Paul Simon is, surprisingly, a very good actor, I've seen modern big-time actors who couldn't be as natural in front of a camera. I'll admit, the name Paul Simon did make me rent this movie, but I've never been so pleased with a rental in years. Songs like "Nobody" and "long long day" really put the finishing touches on the whole feel. This movie has an authentic quality in its plot that can only be fully appreciated, I think, by fellow artists/musicians who can identify with Jonah's life, which I think is what Simon was striving for. Great job Paul, I'm hooked on "One trick pony".

Paul Simon is a self-conscious, introspective, thoughtful man. These qualities, together with his superb guitar licks, eclectic international tastes, and sweet whispery tenor, have made him one of the musical giants of the 20th century, at least figuratively.

The same qualities don't stand him in good stead as an actor. Unlike other self-conscious performers (Woody Allen comes to mind), he can't effectively emote even as himself - a Simonesque musician named Jonah Levi. He uses his limbs awkwardly, and he always seems to be waiting politely for the other actors to finish their lines so he can get his turn.

I wanted to like this film, because I like Simon and he threw his heart into it. I just couldn't. He's stiff, the script is meandering, and the ending is so abrupt you wonder if you missed something. Even his music is decidedly on the lower side of his career output, and it seems to create gaps in the movie's flow. (Hey, what can the characters do to kill two and a half minutes until the background song ends? How about showing Paul taking out the garbage?) Besides, if you want to hear his music, grab one of his concert tapes and get his "A" output.

This reminds me of another movie involving intricate characters, great music, and a radio station. It was called "Choose Me" (1984), and was I have to say a much better-coherent-film.

One Trick Pony starts off promisingly, but falls short as some sequences seem to be extended in order to accomodate Paul Simon's excellent music (ie, long pans across city scapes as Simon and his band ride from gig to gig in their van). It also looks as though large chunks were edited out, in order to cut it's running time down; Such as when Simon meets Mare Winnigham (Saint Elmo's Fire) after a gig, then ends up sleeping with her, then is seen leaving her house without as much as a goodbye...Maybe that was the point, to show us his ephemeral lifestyle on the road. But I dunno though, as Simon's acting also leaves a lot to be desired. But then, he's a singer.

Blair Brown (Altered States)is good as his ex wife who he seems to sleep with whenever he's depressed about something(???). But otherwise it's an atmospheric (due to the music) but unremarkable film, and could''ve been so much more.

This movie is an okay time-killer, particularly if you like Paul Simon's music and/or you are a fan of Blair Brown. Sam and Dave, the B-52s and Lovin' Spoonful don't hurt either. Joan Hackett does a good job in her role. At the risk of sounding heretical, while I aways admired Paul Simon's songs, I have always thought Art Garfunkel has a better voice. One Trick Pony proves that Art's a better actor as well. Average at best.

First things first: Paul Simon is a brilliant songwriter, but a lousy actor. He was absolutely dreadful in "Annie Hall," but at least that was a brief performance, clearly done as a lark for Woody Allen.

I'm not sure what, exactly, this movie was supposed to be. Was it a straight drama? A satire on the music business? A conjecture as to what Simon's career would have been like had "Sounds of Silence" been his only hit? All of they above? In any case, it's not a bad movie. Simon's scriptwriting is actually quite a bit more astute than his acting. But mostly, it's a formless vanity project, mostly a vehicle for Simon to show off his formidable guitar playing/songwriting skills...and, it must be said, his 40-year-old body (through plentiful shirtless and open-shirt scenes), which I have to admit is quite impressive, especially given his short stature.

Simon is actually quite sexy in this movie: the sad-sack, world-weary persona he affects (or maybe it's genuine) somehow really works for him. And I loved the inside joke of his character encountering a poster for "The Empire Strikes Back," aka the movie that Simon's then-girlfriend, Carrie Fisher, was starring in around the same time "One Trick Pony" was being filmed.

Blair Brown is perfectly decent as the Simon-equivalent's ex-wife, although Ms. Brown has subsequently said she dislikes the movie and doesn't wish to discuss it.