I'm Your Man succeeds best when it intensifies its focus on the work and life of its main subject, seen in interviews, home movies and in a climactic performance with Bono and The Edge on 'Tower of Song.'
Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man (2006)
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Reviews Counted:74
Fresh:52
Rotten:22
Average Rating:6.6/10
Consensus: A moving, if somewhat uneven, look at the legendary singer-songwriter, I'm Your Man treats Cohen's body of work with the reverence it deserves.
Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for some sex-related material
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Genre: Musical & Performing Arts
Theatrical Release:Jun 21, 2006 Limited
Box Office: $824,797
Synopsis: Leonard Cohen manages to garner fans from the unlikeliest of places despite his distinctly un-rock-&-roll appearance and a set of songs that veer closer to poetry than to their uneasy bedfellows in... Leonard Cohen manages to garner fans from the unlikeliest of places despite his distinctly un-rock-&-roll appearance and a set of songs that veer closer to poetry than to their uneasy bedfellows in the pantheon of popular music. But viewers looking for an in-depth analysis of the man behind some of the most deeply introspective music ever recorded should look elsewhere: LEONARD COHEN: I'M YOUR MAN contains precious little insight from Cohen himself. Instead, director Lian Lunson has pieced together a warm tribute to the Canadian singer, drawing on the words of his many celebrity fans while also sharing generous amounts of footage from a Cohen tribute concert staged in 2005. The concert was filmed in Australia, with the bulk of the celebrity testimonials coming from performers at the show. The eclectic array of artists taking part include Nick Cave, Pulp's Jarvis Cocker, Martha and Rufus Wainwright, and folk legend Linda Thompson, all of whom perform unique interpretations of Cohen-penned classics such as "I'm Your Man" (Cave) and "Chelsea Hotel #2" (Rufus Wainwright). Lunson intersperses the concert footage with interviews from the stars, the most vocal and effusive praise coming from the Edge and Bono from U2, who are seen backing Cohen on a rendition of "Tower of Song" as the movie closes. Cohen himself is also given some screen time in which he muses on a number of interesting topics, but Lunson's piece is mostly designed as a straight tribute to a man who has never sat easily in the contemporary music world, much to the delight of his fans. [More]
Starring: Leonard Cohen, U2, Rufus Wainwright, Nick Cave
Starring: Leonard Cohen, U2, Rufus Wainwright, Nick Cave, Jarvis Cocker, Antony, Martha Wainwright, Beth Orton, Julie Christensen, Handsome Family, Kate McGarrigle, Anne McGarrigle, Teddy Thompson, Perla Batalla, Hal Willner
Director: Lian Lunson
Director: Lian Lunson
Producer: Mel Gibson, Lian Lunson
Studio: Lions Gate Films
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Reviews for Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man
Leonard Cohen, the darkly rumbling hipster-Buddhist-poet-troubadour gets his own loving tribute in this concert film/testimonial.
Director Lunson is wise to break up the music with the talking heads: The concert inadvertently drives home the narrow range of Cohen's songwriting...
Bloodless where it should be bold, precious where it should be perceptive and irritating where it should be inspiring.
For those of us hard-wired since birth to sing the praises of this melancholy Montreal poet-musician, the film is a singular pleasure.
I'm Your Man never quite gets its man in a coherent frame, but for all its zigs and zags outside the lines, the portrait of Cohen that emerges is a fascinating one.
We hardly get to know Cohen from the biographical shorthand melded to a worshipful tribute show in which the Canadian singer-songwriter never even appears.
The raspy-voiced troubadour is celebrated in the mesmerizing documentary Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man.
Filmmaker Lian Lunson uses a 2005 Sydney tribute concert to Leonard Cohen as a home base for her relatively shallow examination of the best folk singer to slit your wrists to.
A moving and celebratory rock-doc that proves itself worthy of its subject.
Most concert films follow familiar formulas, and this one is no exception...Cynics may find a motive for the film in Cohen's recent legal problems.
It tastefully serves the darkly searching sensitivity of a brave original.
Thorough it’s not, but the concert documentary Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man gathers solid interviews, anecdotes, recitations and tribute performances that present a fairly engaging portrait of the wry, dark poet who became a distinct voice.
Cohen is clearly a songwriter's songwriter, and the resulting movie brims with an infectious passion for the man's melodies and sardonic wit. Unfortunately, the performances are interspersed with interview footage that is much less captivating.
Though a minor documentary and poorly filmed, there's still enough of the wordsmith's music to get over the mess.
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