Kurt Vonnegut: Unstuck in Time

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.

I enjoyed this documentary which was 40 years in the making. I have read pretty much all of Vonnegut's works and obviously this focuses a lot on Slaughterhouse Five but shows everything from his early short stories and earliest novels such as Player Piano onwards. The other review complains about the producer (Weide - the other "half a lifetime" I mention) who is admittedly a bit self-indulgent.

But since his bits are a side-story of how a biographer "cronkler" became a friend of Kurt - it fits in. I look at it as Weide is James Boswell and Kurt is Samuel Johnson (albeit funnier). You get the occasional "Life of Boswell" mixed in. I enjoyed seeing Kurt's family past and present as it helps put things into perspective as his life and career progressed (or sometimes stalled). Also the location shots in Indianapolis and Barnstable, Cape Cod with Kurt or his kids were great. I personally got a kick out of seeing the stone building of his Saab dealership where he wrote "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater." I'd say it's a solid 9/10 for Kurt fans and I think entertaining enough of a show for those who may be unfamiliar with his writing.

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!

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.

"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.