Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man – DVD Review

Film, Reviews

Available at Amazon.com

Directed by
Lian Lunson

Featuring
U2
Rufus Wainwright
Nick Cave
Jarvis Cocker
Antony
Martha Wainwright
Beth Orton

DVD Release Date: November 14, 2006
Running Time: 103 minutes
PG-13 (Rufus Wainwright says “head”)

The Movie

Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man exists as an oddity. It’s half tribute concert, half-interview, which in and of itself isn’t terribly peculiar. The thing is, the concert half is a poorly framed venture with the production values of a public access broadcast of a high school musical, filled with crunchy PBS singers belting either uninteresting or cheesy Cohen covers. The interview/documentary half is a slapped together thing, artsy, pretentious and mostly incoherent.

That’s not say that it is a thoroughly unpleasant experience on either end. Teddy Thompson has an enjoyable version of “Tonight Will Be Fine.” Martha Wainwright does a good rendition of “Traitor” which is marred somewhat by her (let’s say) odd stage presence. Her brother Rufus performs three numbers and goes about 1.5 for 3, hitting with “Chelsea Hotel” and missing with an awkward cabaret version of “Everybody Knows”. Now, I like Rufus Wainwright; he’s goofy and freakishly talented. I love the song “Hallelujah”, known to the kids as that song from Shrek. Together, that singer and that song should be fantastic; they come so close. But Rufus refuses to sing it right. You see, in order for a line ending in “do you?” to rhyme with hallelujah, it must be pronounced “do ya?” Rufus Wainwright refuses to do this every time. I’ve seen him perform this song in person. Every time he says “you”. It’s like he stresses it. It’s like he being graded on proper diction. I just want the song to rhyme!

The interview portion is dominated by the rambling Canadian septuagenarian Cohen. A lot of it is about Zen and poetry and monasticism, padded out with bits of Bono and The Edge talking about how they suck compared to Cohen. (Damning with faint praise?) Mostly, this section leaves me scratching my head. For instance, Cohen talks about starting to write as a child, saying that when he was young most of his reading consisted of Marvel comic books. Then he starts naming a bunch of DC comic book characters, eventually listing one Marvel character – Spider-man. Spider-man didn’t even exist until Cohen was in his mid-twenties. (Why do Buddhists always lie to me?)

It’s worth noting here that the filmmaker is a close enough friend to U2 to refer to The Edge as simply Edge. That must make conversation a lot easier. Can you imagine having to say, “Hey, The Edge, do you want to go to the International House of Pancakes?” Honestly, it much less awkward to say, “Hey, Edge, do you want to go to the International House of Pancakes?” Perhaps, one could abbreviate even further, saying, “Edge, wanna go to the IHOP?” Or even “Edge, IHOP?”

Although, eliminating the “The” might confuse things if one were also in the company of wrestler, Adam Copeland. In that instance, I would fully recommend, re-instating the “The” in front of the U2 member in order to mitigate said confusion.

At any rate, if you think “Poetry slams are keen!” then Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man is probably for you. Otherwise, scene skip to any performance that you might find interesting, watch, and return to the video store.

The DVD

The DVD contains some special features. Including

Four bonus performances:
“Tower of Song” – Martha Wainwright
“Bird on A Wire” -Perla Batalla
“Famous Blue Raincoat” – The Handsome Family
“Tonight Will Be Fine” – Teddy Thompson (Which is slightly different from the version already in the film.)

“Conversation with Leonard Cohen” – Which is less than four minutes long, and reveals little

And finally we get a Commentary by director Lian Lunson which is strikingly adequate.

The DVD Lounge’s Ratings for Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man
CATEGORY
RATING
(OUT OF 10)
THE MOVIE

5
THE VIDEO

6
THE AUDIO

6
THE EXTRAS

5
REPLAY VALUE

5
OVERALL
5
(NOT AN AVERAGE)