Worth: $20.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Willie Nelson, Keith Richards, Neil Young, Sheryl Crow, Ethan Hawke, Beck and many, many more
Intro:
...a near religious musical experience.
“He’s the spirit guide,” says singer Edie Brickell during this extraordinary concert film. “He’s the vibe nurturer.” They’re apt words to describe the great Willie Nelson, the genial, friendly face of the mostly lonesome-ornery-and-mean brand of Outlaw Country Music that he invented with his compadres Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson in the 1970s. Over the decades of his storied career, Willie Nelson has become well-loved not just for the brilliance of his songwriting and the unmistakable timbre of his wise, world-weary delivery, but also for his counter-culturalist swagger and, particularly in recent years, his fondness for – as Woody Harrelson calls it in one of his introductions here – Saint Mary Jane.
One the event of Willie Nelson’s, wait for it, 90th birthday (!!!), a huge two-day concert event was held in Los Angeles earlier this year to celebrate, and an incredible array of artists were on-hand to bring the party via some wonderful musical performances. This close-to-three-hour concert film is a distillation of those two days, and while it’s easy to run through the list of players and query the obvious absences (Dwight Yoakam, The Chicks, Ziggy Marley, Sturgill Simpson, Orville Peck and others all fail to make the cinematic cut), it’s hard to quibble with any concert film that boasts performers as diverse as George Strait, Rodney Crowell, Beck, Snoop Dogg, Tom Jones and Keith Richards. The fact that just about everyone is deliriously, entertainingly on-point makes Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90 a truly rollicking, touching, emotionally resonant and richly enjoyable watch.
Beautifully, simply shot by director Gregg Gelfand without the barrage of cross-cutting that renders most contemporary concert films so distracting, Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90 unfolds at a cool, calm leisurely pace totally in sync with the famously laidback titan at its centre. With the stunning natural amphitheatre of The Hollywood Bowl as backdrop; a host of big-name announcers – including obvious Willie like-minders Ethan Hawke, Woody Harrelson and Owen Wilson, along with the slightly less obvious Jennifer Garner, Chelsea Handler and, um, Helen Mirren – to keep things going; and a crowd filled with LA urban cowboys and cowgirls, hippies, and celebs (was that Julia Roberts and Danny Moder?), the mood is just right from the get-go.
With the day still light, a host of country music’s best new practitioners (Billy Strings, Charlie Crockett, Waylon Payne, Nathaniel Rateliff, Margo Price) deliver strong, personalised versions of Willie Nelson hits and deep cuts, all backed by a drum-tight house band featuring Benmont Tench on keys, the great Mickey Raphael on harmonica, and frequent drop-ins from Willie’s annoyingly handsome and gifted sons, Lukas and Micah Nelson. The highlights fly thick and fast, from the surprising (Beck’s “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain” is gorgeous; a decidedly red-eyed Jack Johnson’s “Willie Got Me Stoned And Took All My Money” is comic genius, as is Dave Matthews’ pre-song story about getting baked on Willie’s tour bus) to the expected (the brilliant Rosanne Cash being joined on stage by the distressingly frail Kris Kristofferson for “Lovin’ Her Was Easier” is heartbreaking and incredibly moving, while just seeing Willie Nelson and Keith Richards breathe the same air on “We Had It All” is worth the ticket price on its own).
Scattered throughout are many, many great moments (“Can we do this in the key of smoke?” Snoop Dogg asks before joining Willie on the wonderful “Roll Me Up And Smoke Me When I Die”; “Oooooh, Helen Mirren,” hollers eighty-something Tom Jones salaciously after being introduced by The Great Dame) and a host of unforgettable performances (Neil Young, Sheryl Crow, The Dead’s Bob Weir, Leon Bridges, Gary Clark Jr., Jamey Johnson, Chris Stapleton, Norah Jones, Tyler Childers, Rodney Crowell and Emmylou Harris and a very coolly outfitted Miranda Lambert are all absolutely great) that combine to make the uplifting and truly joyous Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90 a near religious musical experience.
Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90 will screen in selected Australian cinemas June 10 – 16.
