... after hesitating for years to plunk down the money .. and when I did? And watching it? My disappointment? It Was Deep. (I kept thinking: if Joe could do a documentary about himself.. would it resemble this? Ah, hell no.)
First, I am a relative latecomer to Joe Frank. A friend turned me on to him in the early 2000's when I'd had a horrible breakup. It took no time before I became obsessed. I subscribed to his web site as long as I could afford it. I even was fortunate enough to attend one of his early live shows - at the original Largo. What a show!
From his web site, I downloaded all the free shows he produced in the 2000s - the ones for KCRW. And then I heard about this movie shortly after Joe died. There was some fundraising for it, and I wanted to pitch in. Or at least buy it as soon as it was available. And I got a new job where I could afford it! Subscribed to his site again and looked forward to finally purchasing the movie to watch again and again (like so many of Joe's shows.)
What prevented me from buying it were the conflicting reviews - and there was not much in the film festival circuit buzz (I know some people involved with festivals- and it is telling that this did not make the cut for the major ones).
But recently, I resubscribed to his site and I HAD to see it! I plunked down my $5 bucks to rent it thinking I'd buy it later if it was good. As cheap as that was, I wish I'd bought a coffee instead.
As so many here have related - there is not much new to learn about Joe in this movie. Most everything has been covered either in Joe's shows or interviews he's done over the years. Personally, I wanted to hear more about his failed relationships (since he spent most of his time in his shows talking about illness, death, and relationships!). But other than Kristine McKenna saying his relationships with women were tumultuous, there was nothing. I already knew this from his shows! Let's talk to those ex-GFs and get to the nitty gritty of the tumult!
Anyway, chalk it up to not able to manage expectations (after all, it's only the cost of a cup of coffee. But I wanted so much more.)
Hopefully, someone somewhere out there is right now in the dark communicating with Joe on the other side and we'll learn more about how Joe remains a work in progress - at least to those of us hungering to know about his life.
