The Life and Hard Times of Guy Terrifico

I saw this at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin Texas. I can't say enough good things about this movie. The film follows the life of the fictional Guy Terrifico, who made his way up the country music charts in the early 1970's along with greats like Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings. The interviews with these country music stars is what gives this film its authentic touch as well as laugh out loud humor. The performance and musical talent of the films star, Matt Murphy, draws you into the often inebriated world of Guy Terrifico. He captures the essence of a true poet who is swept up in the world of super stardom. I talked to many people after the screening who didn't realize they were watching a mockumentary until the end of the film. They thought Guy Teriffico really existed. That's the mark of good film-making. SEE THIS FILM!

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.

"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.

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.