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Songwriter (film) - Wikipedia

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Songwriter
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Alan Rudolph
Written by	Bud Shrake
Produced by	Sydney Pollack
Starring	Willie Nelson Kris Kristofferson Lesley Ann Warren Rip Torn Melinda Dillon
Cinematography	Matthew Leonetti
Edited by	Stuart Pappé
Music by	Larry Cansler Songs: Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson
Distributed by	Tri-Star Pictures
Release date	October 12, 1984 (1984-10-12)
Running time	94 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$8.6 million^[1]
Box office	$865,915^[2]

Songwriter is a 1984 American film directed by Alan Rudolph. At the 57th Academy Awards, it received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Adaptation Score for Kris Kristofferson.

Genre

The film is a satirical comedy-drama about an artist seeking his freedom. The material is loosely based on Willie Nelson's own life and legend and finances. His song "Night Life", for example, which he sold in 1961 for $150, went on to be recorded by over 70 artists and sold more than 30 million copies.^[3]

Plot

Doc Jenkins (Willie Nelson) is a country and western composer, who employs devious tricks to extricate himself from his legal entanglement with a Nashville gangster entrepreneur who takes all the profits from his songs.

Fed up with life touring and making no money from recordings of his music, Doc has turned to managing the career of his old singing partner Blackie Buck (Kris Kristofferson). Doc takes a further client - a woman singer, Gilda (Lesley Ann Warren). He wants to get back with his ex-wife Honey (Melinda Dillon), and to get solid ground beneath his feet again.

Cast

Willie Nelson as "Doc" Jenkins
Kris Kristofferson as "Blackie" Buck
Lesley Ann Warren as Gilda
Rip Torn as Dino McLeish
Melinda Dillon as "Honey" Carder
Mickey Raphael as Arly
Richard C. Sarafian as Rocky "Rodeo Rocky"
Shannon Wilcox as Anita
Jeff MacKay as Hogan
Gailard Sartain as Mulreaux
Kristin Renfro as Daughter #2

Reception

The film is reviewed, favorably, by the critic Pauline Kael in her collection of movie reviews, Hooked. "Playing a vain, laid-back sensualist, the silver bearded Kristofferson has a smiling glow; he has never been more at ease; Rip Torn is the picture's insurance against gentility. Everything he says sounds mean and dirty, and even when you can't understand his snarled out words he makes you laugh. Rhonda Dotson has something of Teri Garr's manic alertness and dippiness, too, but in a softer form. She's a romantic comedienne with awesome poise. Richard C. Sarafian has a whomping comic menace. Lesley Ann Warren's Gilda is spectacular. When we first see Gilda, she's a singer with no belief in herself and no class; she's an incredibly beautiful girl in a red dress [but] when Doc grooms her to go out as the opening act for Blackie, she begins to learn something about taste and musicianship, and her voice flowers. Besides being one of the great beauties of the screen, Warren can sing."^[4] Roger Ebert gave the film 3+1⁄2 out of a possible 4 stars, and says ""Songwriter" is one of those movies that grows on you. It doesn't have a big point to prove, and it isn't all locked into the requirements of its plot. It's about spending some time with some country musicians who are not much crazier than most country musicians, and are probably nicer than some. It also has a lot of good music."^[5]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 89% of 9 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7/10.^[6]

References

^ "The Unstoppables". Spy. November 1988. p. 94 – via Internet Archive.
^ Songwriter at Box Office Mojo
^ Pauline Kael Hooked
^ Pauline Kael Hooked pp. 7-10 ISBN 0-7145-2903-6
^ "Songwriter movie review & film summary (1985) | Roger Ebert".
^ "Songwriter". Rotten Tomatoes.

External links

Songwriter at IMDb

Films directed by Alan Rudolph

Premonition (1972)
Nightmare Circus (1974)
Welcome to L.A. (1976)
Remember My Name (1978)
Roadie (1980)
Endangered Species (1982)
Return Engagement (1983)
Songwriter (1984)
Choose Me (1984)
Trouble in Mind (1985)
Made in Heaven (1987)
The Moderns (1988)
Love at Large (1990)
Mortal Thoughts (1991)
Equinox (1992)
Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994)
Afterglow (1997)
Breakfast of Champions (1999)
Trixie (2000)
Investigating Sex (2001)
The Secret Lives of Dentists (2002)
Ray Meets Helen (2017)

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