The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico

I don't even know where to begin... but we saw this movie on a whim at the Toronto International Film Festival Friday night. We really had no idea what it was about but thought we'd take a chance on it. Well we rolled the dice and won!

Sure there are lots of similarities than can be made to other "mockumentaries" but the nicest surprise of all was Matt Murphy. It was our understanding that he's a first time actor and he was wonderful; great comic timing and very convincing as the beleaguered Guy Terrifico. It was also our pleasure to meet him after the movie was screened.

If you're not a fan of country music DO NOT let that stop you from seeing this movie! There are lots of laughs to be had, mostly at poor Guy's expense.

This is a very funny film and I highly recommend it. It's beautifully written and the actors are priceless. It's a pleasure to see an independent film of such high quality. If you're like me, and never much cared for country music, you'll still love this film because it contains the key elements of a good story that everyone can relate to and can appreciate. Oh, and did I mention that it's stinking funny?

This was a feature pick at the Toronto International Film Festival for a good reason. The original music, the characters and love that the writer had for his material makes this a classic must see mockumentary that rivals Spinal Tap.

"The life and hard times of Guy Terrifico" is the funniest film I've seen all year. I checked it out at Austin's South by Southwest film fest and have been laughing ever since. This crazy little Canadian film is about a mad man country rock star in the 1970's who disappears at the height of his career. 30 years later, an album of duets called "Retribution Honkytonkus" is apparently about to be released with new Guy Terrifico recordings so this documentary crew interviews all his old buddies to see if they think he is alive or not. Did he die or didn't he? I won't spoil the ending but you won't be disappointed. I would describe this film as "This is Spinal Tap" in the country music world. It features Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard, Phil Kaufman, Levon Helm & Ronnie Hawkins along for the ride. Lots of funny moments but "Hump the Drum" is my favorite. GUY ROCKS!

I had high hopes for this one going in but soon became disappointed, then bored, then disaffected--frankly, couldn't finish it. The faux rockumentary premise sounded promising ('Spinal Tap' was a hoot) but despite a few mildly amusing lines, gags, and pratfalls this film mostly recycles clichés about how dissipated and reckless rock musicians can be (yawn). Yes, it's good-natured in a goofy sort of way. Still, I couldn't help but feel that my intelligence was being insulted with simplistic, unoriginal, and very predictable material about a fictional Guy who was inherently uninteresting. Granted, comedy is the hardest thing to do but when it's bad, it's really bad.

Not only was this funny along the lines of "Spinal Tap", but really was the most true-to-life mockumentary I've seen. I had never heard of it, but rented it on an impulse because Kris Kristofferson and Merle Haggard were in on the joke. This film takes place in the early 1970s. I was just dating my husband (guitar player) at this time and we were entrenched in the music scene of L.A. at a certain level that included hanging at The Corral in Topanga Canyon, going to the Topanga Canyon Banjo & Fiddle Contest every year, and our good friend Artie was in the house band at The Palomino in the San Fernando Valley. Clarence White and Gram Parsons had just left the Byrds and were playing around town. We went to the Troubador to see Waylon Jennings, where we got a great show, culminating in Waylon falling over backwards off of his stool at the end of a tune. The Eagles, who were just Linda Rondstadt's back-up band then, used to hang out at the bar at the Troubador. I have to say that this film is the most real film I've seen of those days, mostly because of the set designer and the clothing designer. Everything in this film is so on-the-money as to be almost real...unlike "Spinal Tap" which was much more tongue-in-cheek and over-the-top. I recommend this film highly for anyone who wants to know what it was really like in those days. Our friend Bob went to the Troubador one night a little early for the show to see Kris Kristofferson and went upstairs and saw Kris there. Bob kept going on about this new songwriter, knowing that Kris had everything to do with bringing him to the limelight, and couldn't say enough about John Prine. He ended up singing "The Late John Garfield Blues" with Kris Kristofferson upstairs at the Troubador before the show. When it was over and he was heading downstairs he heard Kris say to someone..."Who was that big guy in the tennis shoes?" Ah yes, those were the days. This is a brilliant film, in my humble opinion. It captured everything about those days. Well done!