Greetings from Tim Buckley

A gentle, touching film about young musician Jeff Buckley, 3 years before his break out (and only) album "Grace" traveling to NYC to perform in a tribute concert for his father Tim.

Having never known his father, but living in his shadow, and yet gifted with some of the same talent it's an unusual and quietly intimate look at the connections and hurts between fathers and sons, even those who never met.

Penn Badgley does a very nice job not only with the young Jeff's angst, but also his voice, which is not an easy one to capture. Imogen Poots is lovely as a young fan of Jeff's father with whom Tim has a sweet momentary romance. Not all the performances are at the same level, and the film doesn't delve very deep, but seeing a father and son (there are various flashbacks to Tim played by Ben Rosenfeld) at about the same age, so similar and so different is an effective and unique structural concept. The tragedy that both men completed their lives eerily alike, dying far too young, casts a haunting melancholy over it all.

Before watching this movie I had been quite familiar with Jeff Buckley and the album 'Grace' but was not familiar with the story of his father. The scene in the apartment where they are composing 'Grace' - features Jeff playing an an acoustic guitar - a Taylor 800 series (the guitar in the movie looks like an 814c or 814ce from early to mid 2000s… By looking at the fret inlays and the black plastic key tuners). At that time Taylor had stopped using Grover tuners and had started manufacturing their own tuners. So this is very recognizable to musicians. Probably a small point. Otherwise I liked the movie a lot! Bill Sadler and Imogen Poots - excellent casting choices. Very sad indeed what happened to Jeff.

I was impressed by Penn Badgley's portrayal of Buckley in this 'snapshot in time' genre of movie. It was not, as other reviewers seem to miss, a biography of either Jeff or his father Tim Buckley. Rather, the movie focuses on Jeff's reluctant participation and eventual musical and personal redemption via a tribute concert to his father that took place in NYC in 1991. The action takes place over just a few days prior and leading up to the concert. I might add that the St. Ann band backing the various tribute musicians was tremendous. Its my impression that what you hear of them on film was live...or very well near it. I did notice some inconsistent editing and out of sync instrumentals, but this is not the first movie coming up short in this area.

Back to Penn Badgley...his musical takes were live and done with no lip syncing. His guitar playing was real...when is the last time you've seen that in a movie? His character was, for me, as honest an interpretation of a tragic character as I've seen in a very long time. The movie takes place in a period prior to Jeff's musical self discovery, a few years before his first album. He comes across as a idiosyncratic, often annoyingly self centered young person still searching for his voice. I didn't actually like the character portrayed in the movie and suspect I wouldn't care much for Jeff Buckley in person, (if Penn's portrayal is accurate) however, this is certainly not the point of the movie.

The pace of the film, which others criticize, worked for me...and, in some respects, had the feel of a documentary rather than being scripted.

I was a huge fan of Tim Buckley's first few albums...after Lorca, I moved on. Goodbye/Hello is one of the hallmark albums of the 60's: Happy Sad was a haunting art piece blending transitional jazz with folk. I didn't know Jeff's music nearly as well...so, I must confess that his portrayal is personally prototypical. Imogen Poots is lovely and steals every scene she is in...I thought her acting was fresh and unassuming and did a credible New York accent despite being British. All in all, I liked the film on many levels. -Jim

The very idea of producing a dramatic film about such beloved, tragic, and incomparably gifted people as Tim and Jeff Buckley might seem like a dubious venture, a bite that would be too big for any director and cast to chew. And yet Greetings From Tim Buckley is a beautiful, touching, electrically charged success, capturing the essence of these two adored musicians with a synergistic magic that, unbelievably, does them both justice.

The film uses a true story from the life of singer/songwriter Jeff Buckley (Penn Badgley) -- his preparation and performance at a tribute concert for his father, the late Tim Buckley (Ben Rosenfeld), in 1991. Over the span of a few days, Jeff is forced to contemplate the similarities between himself and the father he never really knew -- their uncanny, iconic visages, their hauntingly similar tenor voices, their shared musical genius, and their mutual ability to remain in the moment of artistic creation and expression 24 hours a day, not just while standing in front of a microphone or expertly manipulating a guitar. Meanwhile, Tim is seen two decades earlier on a journey that mirrors Jeff's, as he spends time on the road and learns via a late-night phone call that his semi estranged wife has given birth to his only son.

One of the many things that makes this movie so incredible is that Jeff doesn't confront his long-festering emotional confusion through heavy-handed speeches or overwrought melodrama; much of the largely internalized story is simply presented through music. Tim Buckley's original, earth-shockingly emotive songs provide more than enough narrative momentum for many affecting scenes with either father or son to play out almost without dialog. And in another smart move, any necessary exposition regarding Jeff's personal arc is handled through Before Sunrise-esque exchanges he has with a young woman he befriends while preparing for the concert, conversations that are always strikingly on point, but never too on the nose.

It also cannot be overstated how magically and completely Penn Badgley inhabits Jeff Buckley as a man and a musician. The mere fact that Badgley performed all of his vocals for the part live is reason enough to see the film, as Jeff Buckley had a rare, otherworldly voice and dexterous musical ability, both vocally and on the guitar -- and Badgley nails it with absolute perfection. He does this not only when he sings prearranged songs, but when he riffs and improvises during jam sessions, always with every ounce of Buckley's range, not to mention his strange and clever rhythmic and tonal choices. But even greater still, perhaps, is Badgley's overall characterization, which channels Buckley's unique personal mannerisms with such organic precision that we can sense the very physical and psychological undercurrents that they derive from. Often, Badgley conjures the singer's combination of energetic mania and laid-back California fluidity with what looks like total ease.

The narrative in Greetings From Tim Buckley only takes place during those few days leading up to the concert, so it's up to the audience to know what lies ahead for Jeff: the groundbreaking solo album, the untold critical acclaim, and the deeply tragic untimely death that befell him, drowning in a river he impulsively dove into just on the heels of his plans for a sophomore album. But the odd mixture of doom and grace that would follow Jeff in life is still present in the movie, lending a further sense of beauty and loss to what would already be one of the most moving musical stories told on film.

In the whole scheme of things, there are really very few films about music that touch the real soul of the art. This film does it, by bringing Tim and his son back to life. It is a tragic story, but the movie does not dwell on this. Rather it composes a sweet and haunting "song" to two figures that touch us, and speak to us through the story and acting here. Discovering Tim, and his art, is and his tragedy, brings us closer to the music that was created. We have to look for this after the film, since this project apparently could not get the rights to the songs themselves. Nevertheless, this is a beautiful project and very much seeing.