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.

I just finished watching this "honky-tonkumentary" and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is compelling, it is funny, it has surprisingly good music, but most of all, it is thoroughly believable. The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico has a feeling of authenticity about it that few mockumentaries can match. The acting is superb. Best of all are the interviews about Guy Terrifico with real stars (Ronnie Hawkins, Merle Haggard, Chris Kristofferson, etc.). They come across sounding so impromptu, that I wonder whether they were scripted or in fact improvised? Actually, I found myself wondering the same thing often throughout the movie. Nothing seems put on or forced. When Guy and the band are writing their music, it really seems that the actors are playing and singing the songs for the first time. And as much as I generally dislike country, the soundtrack was amazing - definitely worth buying. Most of the humour in the film comes from the outrageous way it caricatures the lives of 1970's rockstars: it's so outrageous it's believable; it's so believable, it's funny. There is so much to recommend about this film that I can't imagine anyone disliking it.

In the early 1970s Canadian country/rock legend Guy Terrifico was gunned down at a concert and vanished on his way to the hospital.

Recently some unreleased tapes have surfaced sparking a new recording project and prompting rumors he may still be alive.

Why would Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard, Colin Linden and other musical luminaries appear on an album of duets with a man who supposedly died 30 years ago?

"I loved Guy Terrifico," Kristofferson says with a craggy grin. "He was the only guy back in the early 70s who drank more than I did. He made me look like a choirboy."

Indeed the musicians interviewed for this "honky tonk-umentary" seem more interested in talking about Terrifico's excessive lifestyle than his music.

Linden recalls playing at the club Guy bought after winning the lottery.

"As soon as you'd get there for soundcheck he would start plying you with drinks and whatever else he had kicking around. By the time he'd get ready to play a lot of the bands would be too messed up to play. Normally this would be a bar owner's worst nightmare but for Terrifico it was like a dream come true. Guy just wanted to hang out with the bands, that's all."

Haggard recounts an incident at a post gig party when Terrifico got in his face once too often. ("He was an a----hole so I knocked him out.")

The film also includes reminiscences by Ronnie Hawkins, Levon Helm of The Band and Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor of Blue Rodeo.

So how come you have never heard of him? Simple. He's entirely the product of freshman filmmaker Michael Mabbott's feverish imagination.

A composite of Jerry Jeff Walker, Gordon Lightfoot and Gram Parsons, Terrifico is played with woozy verisimilitude by Halifax musician Matt Murphy.

Playing himself is Parsons' former road manager, Phil Kaufman.(Parsons' real life story was more bizarre than any fictional film.)

Simulated studio and concert footage add to the illusion. "Home movies" of late night jams at the Vancouver apartment Guy shares with wife Mary Lou (Natalie Radford) will strike a responsive chord with survivors of the era and those who are still "living the dream".

Admittedly this mock doc will be best appreciated by a niche audience. So if you're not familiar with Parsons' legacy, you don't have anything by Kris, Merle or The Band in your collection and you've never seen a boomer folk in concert you may not "get" it (or want it).

However, if you can check one of the above, the sly inside humor and musical references will have you chortling with delight like a senior at a rest home who has just realized its Saturday night and there is chocolate pudding for dessert.

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!