My Own Love Song

A road trip drama where lost souls are looking for their lost dreams, or as the title suggests, their own love song. The filmmakers used characters who suffer from opposite inflictions to increase the sense of conflict, sympathy, and drama. Jane (Renée Zellweger) is in a wheelchair and Joey (Forest Whitaker) is schizophrenic. Do you feel sorry for them? You should.

It's an awfully long journey to somewhere that we, the characters, nor the filmmakers quite know where it is, and all we have to get us there is two people who learn to become more than they are by each using their own strengths. Sound a little prosaic? Sadly, it is.

Perhaps one of the most frustrating aspects is that "My Own Love Song" is not a truly independent film by new filmmakers trying desperately to break into the industry, nor is it a Hollywood film where they threw in cliché ideas in a desperate attempt to make a dollar. It is by award-winning filmmakers who had access to great actors and original songs by Bob Dylan. Frustrating because it can't be as easily dismissed as one would assume.

The plot summary, the title, the poster and DVD cover art all suggest that it will be boring. I can't fault the marketers, it is boring. And that is its ultimate problem. Zellweger is perfect in the role, the messages are all quite respectful, and the idea that this journey is about dreams not about reality could have made it substantial. But "My Own Love Song" doesn't go anywhere very interesting and it takes too long to get there.

You've read the story in these critiques. It's a road movie about a small group of damaged characters in search of some undefined salvation in the form of a huckster who claims that angels exist. The Forrest Whitaker character, Joey, bothered me the most. The slow-witted crazy man with a heart of gold, who takes care of the paraplegic singer played by Renee Zellweger. The character is a movie cliché, straight out of Of Mice And Men, and Whitaker didn't bring anything new to it. Is he schizophrenic and off his meds? Is he bipolar and off his meds? Whatever, he only shows up in movies, not in real life. At one point, late in the story, there is a diversion into the "legend" of Robert Johnson losing his soul at the Crossroads in exchange for a supernatural ability on the guitar. Then: on to something else. It goes nowhere. What was the point? Is our little band of characters somehow like Robert Johnson? Apparently not, because the next sequence is a high-speed car chase down highway 61. There were some nice moments, but they were poorly strung together.

I saw a preview for this film in Paris in the presence of both the director (Olivier Dahan, who is French) and Forest Whitaker. The director described it as simple and happy while Forest mentioned magic. They were both right. The film was beautiful. The whole room seemed completely taken in. Renee Zellweger was great and managed to make a number of the audience cry in her role as an ex-singer confined to a wheel chair. Forest Whitaker was fantastic as was Madeline Zima who I had not seen much previously and was very impressed by. The story was simple but moving and the pictures magical. There are a couple of brilliant characters that they meet on their travels too who lighten up what could have been a rather intense movie. I definitely recommend this film.

This film is about a wheelchair bound singer and a man with psychiatric problems who embark on a road trip to escape from their broken dreams in their hometown.

The initial twenty minutes are alright, portraying the love hate relationship between the two leads. However, once the angels and the fantasy elements set in, the film becomes chaos. What are those pastel birds doing on the streets? What about those images of angels in the sky? Instead of being innovative, it appears self indulgent and confusing. The pacing is so slow, with too many scenes that are made to look artistic but are so boring. The prime example is the scene when they sit under a tree lit in red. The scene is beautiful to look at but quite a torture to sit through.

The ending has the potential to be very emotional. However, it just does not have that effect. The ending has a heartfelt song, but there is inadequate closure. It is not uplifting or touching enough either. "My Own Love Song" could have been emotional and engaging, but it is a greatly misfired attempt.

Writer and director Olivier Dahan may have had sincere intentions behind making 'My Own Love Song' but the problem with the film is that it does not have much to offer in terms of novelty and it relies on several clichés. With the exception of Zellweger's Jane, the characters are either clichés or one-dimensional. Moreover, the film is overly sentimental at times. While I enjoy road movies very much, 'My Own Love Song' does capture the beauty of the American landscape. The camera-work is very good. I enjoyed the animated bird sequence but otherwise it was completely out of place. Renee Zellwegger does an excellent job in portraying Jane Wyatt, a wheelchair-ridden former rockstar who's estranged from her son. In addition, Zellweger proves once again that she can sing beautifully. Forest Whitaker tries the best he could with a poorly written Joey but the actor is unable to do anything new with this character. Yet, I enjoyed most of his scenes with Zellweger. Madeline Zima's Bilie lacks development. Nick Nolte stands out in a small role. Overall, 'My Own Love Song' isn't a bad watch by any means, it just doesn't have anything new to offer.