danda2k

I taped this off the Sundance channel because it got 2 1/2 stars, but hadn't the remotest idea of what it was. Smart move on my part. From the first grainy minutes of images of what I knew must be a small Northerb California town I'd been to at some time, accompanied by a mesmerizing sound track I told myself was Neil Young himself, I relaxed into a very mellow mood and stayed there for almost an hour and a half. The cast of unknowns, from a great old Grandpa figure to a great Devil character, were perfect and most did a good job of pretending to sing the lyrics which went all through the picture, as continual narration taking the place of dialog. This is as unusual and entertaining a film experience as I could have asked for. My willingness to explore the unknown was richly rewarded. Thank you, Neil Young.

Why the film was even made is the first and lesser of the two puzzles I came away with. The second was that the Chicago Sun Times and Roger Ebert went totally overboard in praising it. I can imagine that some misguided individuals in Hollywood thought the film would "work" or at least make a profit, but how some big-time media people be so taken with so awkward an effort really surprises me. I noticed that many professional reviewers rated the film well below 50/100 but the few comments by ordinary viewers were even more telling in terms of negative reaction. This film seems to me a perfect example of how too many of the media pros quite often give far more praise to a film than do ordinary viewers. I always read all the professional reviews and find them cleverly written and well worth the reading, but I very often turn to the comments from the crowd to bring me down to earth.