Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time

An incredible labor of love that should delight and move any Vonnegut fan, and not a bad introduction for those who aren't familiar with him yet. It's a very human portrait of the man, warts and all, not a deep literary analysis of his books, but you will gain some great insights into how some of those came together, especially Slaughterhouse Five. The friendship of filmmaker Bob Weide with Kurt that is the centerpiece of the movie is crucial, a meta element fitting for a film about the guy who did meta (in Breakfast Of Champions particularly) before meta was cool! If any of this tweaks your interest, don't miss it.

While many are bothered by the interaction of the filmmaker in this film and initially, I too was unsure about it, I finally decided that the many years Weide spent making this film and spending time with Vonnegut made him a central character in his life and therefore he holds a space in this documentary just as Vonnegut's children do. It was a beautiful film and I really enjoyed it!

"I didn't want to be in this film, but I felt I had to explain why it took forty years." I guess all the people who review "it's self indulgent of Weide" are too big *s to get this single line explanation.

I fell in love with Vonnegut's writing in high school, which presaged a lifetime of suicidal depression for me. Anyhoo, this film exactly fits Vonnegut's style and philosophy and it just depresses the hell out of me that other reviewers don't grok it. (lol) BTW one of Weide's films made from Vonnegut's books, "Mother Night" was made for $6,000,000 (estimated) and grossed only $403,701, which explains in part it took Weide so long to return to doing material on Vonnegut, (although he doesn't give these numbers in this film), and why few filmmakers have bothered to touch Vonnegut's material since. So it goes. If you haven't read Vonnegut, you're probably not worthy, sorry I mean interested, of watching this. I don't know why you would bother.

A must see for any fan of Kurt Vonnegut. Unstick in Time is a labor of love that is over 30 years in the making. Countless hours of never before seen footage made up of not only past interviews and speeches of Vonnegut, but priceless family home films from the 1920's and 1930's make up the glue of what this documentary has to offer its audience. Among this footage includes testimonials from those who knew and loved him in the past, the present and the time to come. This story's message, moral, motivation and meaning are all important to the overall question the filmmaker answers as we are obligated to keep watching all the way to the final credits. A perfect poem to one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.

Robert Weide, the maker of this fine documentary, apologizes right off the bat for being on screen and 'present' from time to time while it goes on. I see other reviewers found this a bit annoying, but I can also see that it was hard to avoid. Weide's connection with Vonnegut spanned decades, they became close friends, and the friendship itself is part of the story. I don't think we lose anything as a result: Vonnegut and his work are still front and center, and we get a satisfyingly thorough look into his life from beginning to end.

Vonnegut was an American original. His main works (Slaughterhouse Five and the string of novels before and after it) hit the zeitgeist of the 1960's right on the mark and made him immediately and permanently famous. His trademark angular face, mustache, and mop of curly hair were instantly recognizable and never changed. After his orginal string of hits, his writing as a novelist sort of trailed off into the weeds, but he turned into an affable TV talk-show guest and public speaker. Although he may have outlived his natural home period in history, he never really went away. And his consistent counterculture, antiwar point of view is timeless.

Weide clearly loved the guy. We get to see plenty of archival footage that fills in all the gaps over his whole life. The many interviews and thoughts from his three kids (Edie, Nanny, and Mark) and four nephews, who are all very open and engaging, are among the highlights of the film. Vonnegut was a complex character with a fascinating history. Very much worth seeing.