Amazon.com
Paul Simon was in his mid-thirties, still a young man, when he made his acting and screenwriting debut in
One Trick Pony back in 1980. But in the music biz, Jonah Levin, the semi-autobiographical character Simon portrays, is an old-timer, a relic of the '60s still trying to move beyond the one hit (a Vietnam-era protest tune called "Soft Parachutes") for which he's known. A "grown man living in a kid's world," as estranged wife Marion (Blair Brown) puts it, he and his band have been reduced to hitting the club circuit, traveling in a van, staying in $15 motels, trying to land a deal for his new songs but dismissed by clueless record company slugs as hopelessly uncommercial. So much for the story. When it comes to execution, Simon and director Robert A. Young do a decent job of it. Levin and his musicians (Simon's actual band at the time--including drummer Steve Gadd, bassist Tony Levin, guitarist Eric Gale, and keyboardist Richard Tee--all essentially playing themselves with different names) are living a fairly humdrum existence, and the film's tone is pedestrian as well; not a bad thing, really, as its low-key vibe proves quite winning in the end. Simon is no Olivier when it comes to acting, but he has a terrific supporting cast, including Brown, Rip Torn (as a smarmy label executive), Joan Hackett (as Torn's horny wife), Allen Goorwitz (excellent as a low-life promotion man), and even Lou Reed (as a producer who turns Levin's music to mush); performances by Sam and Dave, the Lovin' Spoonful, and the B-52s add some flavor as well. Most of all, there's Simon's music. Though neither his best nor best-known work, songs like "Late in the Evening," "Long, Long Day," and "Ace in the Hole" carry the film, and the band is superb. Combine that with the script's droll humor, and you've got a movie that's hardly a classic but still eminently watchable.
--Sam Graham
Video Description
An aging folk singer who has passed the peak of his popularity takes one last stab at regaining his superstardom.
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