Very reminiscent

Rating: 6/10 (16 April 2010)

I knew Townes Van Zandt personally for a number of years. Watching this movie was eerie to me because, although almost none of it matched any actual detail of Townes' life, the themes, certain events and emotions did. It's as if they did a fictionalized biography of him. The thing is, had they actually done the ending the way Townes life did end, it would have been far more of a tear jerker. Townes married the younger woman, had two children with her and died at the age of 53 from a pulmonary embolism after a hip fracture complicated by years of alcoholism and substance abuse. I urge you to read his biography at Wikipedia. The parallels are rather amazing. A previous review stated, "First time director Scott Cooper has said this movie tells Merle Haggard's' story and Kris Kristofferson's and Waylon Jennings'." I completely disagree. All three of those men are far too famous to have any relation to this story. On the other hand, all three of those men, along with Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson, recorded music that Townes wrote, much as what happened to Blake in the film. Townes Van Zandt had a small but devoted cult following. He wrote truly incredible music. But alcoholism killed his career and in the end killed him. Welcome to the ending of Blake's life. Oh and by the way, one of the songs in the movie, If I Needed You, was written by Townes.