I judge musician-profile docs thusly: would this interest someone who has never heard of this band before? The answer here – sure. It’s not quite “Buena Vista Social Club,” “Genghis Blues,” or “The Last Waltz,” but it gets the point across pretty darned well. I only wished for some archival live footage, instead of just that one concert (taped at Warsaw!) I still consider TMBG as one of my favorite groups of all time, so I knew all the facts presented here. Some of the talking head interviews were cool (their early collaboraters, esp.) but some made me want to shoot myself — especially Ira Glass and Sarah Vowell. I really don’t know which of those two I’d like to kill first. I’ll probably have to go with Glass, since Glass discovered Vowell. . .and I did once have a phone conversation with Vowell (long story) and she was very polite. Oddly, Robert Krulwich, who certainly comes from the same school, doesn’t annoy me. There’s one unexpected, haunting moment. There is a live “in store” appearance taped at the Village Tower Records — at 12 AM on Sept 11, 2001. A few hours away, and a few blocks away, from the terrorist attacks. The song, of course, the one that goes “Everyone’s your friend in New York City. . . .”
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Jordan Hoffman is a New York-based writer and film critic working for The Guardian, Vanity Fair, Thrillist, Times of Israel, NY Daily News and elsewhere.
He is the host of ENGAGE: The Official Star Trek Podcast, a member of the New York Film Critics Circle and challenges you to a game of backgammon.