The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir

Band documentaries are tough, because you want to hear the music and see 30+ years of historical footage, but also hear the story telling and interviews. This documentary does a good job balancing, and doesn't tiptoe around the drugs and lifestyle.

I am a tragically uncool man....I admit it. So, when a new documentary about the Grateful Dead and their lead singer Bob Weir came out, I decided to see it with a friend--one who loves the Dead and could help fill in the gaps and explain things to me as we watched. I never really listened to their music, so this was a new experience--one that was surprisingly enjoyable and held my interest despite me not being a Dead-head or even a nearly Dead-head!

While there have been other documentaries about this group, this one focuses mostly on Bob Weir and his contribution to the band. Additionally, the film talks quite a bit about Weir's best friend and mentor, Jerry Garcia. But, I should point out that if you want to learn a lot about other individual members of the band, this may not be the best film for you. This is NOT a complaint--more an observation about the scope of the film.

What you get is mostly what you expect from this film--a lot of vintage footage of the band, a lot of interviews with band members and friends as well as interviews with Weir himself. However, what I really like is the access to Weir that the film gives you. He narrates much of the film and there is a lot of interesting insights and observations about himself that make this a most revealing film- -especially when he talks about his life since the Grateful Death broke up following the death of Garcia. It also, most importantly, is very interesting and their energy is infectious. I appreciated how Weir and his band mates didn't seem to do this for the money or fame but for a drive to perform--and Weir apparently has performed more than 6000 times on stage! So, for the uninitiated like me, it's very enjoyable and well worth seeing because of Weir and the Dead's love of what they do.

As far as my buddy goes, he was ecstatic and thanked me for turning him on to this film. In his words "I loved the film...every minute of it". I think that pretty much says what a fan would likely think about the film.

If you want to see it, the film just debuted this month on Netflix and can be streamed from your TV or computer.

If you are a deadhead like me, this documentary will possibly make you cry and you will swear it's the greatest documentary you've ever saw in your life. If you are not, you will find it intriguing, interesting and well done. I was not going to review this because I am so biased. I am a deadhead and this is the most insightful piece of work on the Grateful Dead I've seen in years. If you ever were curious about the Grateful Dead this gives the most behind the scenes look at what occurred. It certainly gives you a different version of Bobby. What a scape of a most unique band that changed history. "The omnipotent Grateful Dead."

Truly Bob Weir has a colorful story, starting with The Merry Pranksters at age 16 and continuing through three decades of the Dead. Avid Deadheads will love this film. Unfortunately for this fan, Bob concentrates on his role as Jerry's buddy, the chick magnet of the band and the vegan spiritualist survivor. Other than Garcia's health problems, he glosses over conflict within The Dead, including efforts of other band members to dismiss him and Pigpen as musically weak. There's not much music in the film and the band's change in musical direction hardly gets mentioned. It's okay; The Dead was and will always be special, but this documentary doesn't fill the bill.

My 200th review here had to be about this fantastic band and this great musician who rocked the world during 30 years. Those who like the band enjoyed every little second of the movie. Those who still don't know Weir / GD have here a great chance to change this.

Watch the film and listen to the band!

PS: Once the film ended I researched more about Garcia and discovered today (1st August) would be his 76th brithday!!!