Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man (2006)

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

What kind of a documentary about a musician fails to include a single track by the artist himself?! Unlike "Ray" or countless other films about music artists, half the fun in the theater (or on the couch) is reliving the great songs themselves. Here, all the tracks are covers put on by uninteresting characters, and these renditions fail to capture Cohen's slow, jazzy style. More often, the covers are badly sung folk versions. Yuck.The interviews are as much or more with other musicians and figures rather than with Cohen himself. Only rarely does the film feature Cohen reading his own work (never singing)-- like letters, poems, etc. The movie really didn't capture much about the artist's life story, either, or about his development through the years. A huge disappointment for a big Cohen fan.

I once succeeded with an attractive older woman because we shared a poetry lovers' delight in Leonard Cohen's Suzanne. A singer/composer who doesn't need U2 for background deserves a tribute by with singers who do. Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man is an entertaining tribute documentary that took place in January 2006 at the Sydney Opera House. Album genius producer Hal Willner has arranged 13 performances in the "Came So Far for Beauty" concert. Although Nick Cave and the Wainrights among others could hold their own in concert, when they successfully cover Cohen's songs in Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man, there's a slight disappointment that the basso gravel voice himself is not singing. After all, he composed the poetry and melodies, in a distinctively soulful, weary signature style that says, "I did this. Let me tell you about it." So, you can anticipate both my praise and criticism: Cohen's songs transfer remarkably well to other singers, especially Cave (Even with a Vegas attitude his Suzanne is effective) and Rufus Wainright (His oft-performed rendition of Hallelujah reveals a song that can endure even Rufus's emendations). The singers carry an experience and innocence respectively, as Cohen does. Cohen's conversations with director Lian Lunson are the most interesting parts of the documentary: his being a poet in Montreal, a hipster in New York, and a monk in a Mt. Baldy Zen monastery. All the time, however, he is cool enough to avoid revealing too much about himself, but then, that's the mystery of his songs as well. He just makes you long to know why he left his art and came back to it. He doesn't tell.When Cohen finally sings Tower of Song, I knew why he was being feted, albeit too unctuously by Bono, and why he sings his compositions better than anyone else. Because he sometimes takes up to a year on one, the care and feeling show in his weathered voice and heavily-lidded eyes. His smirk is not smug either: It mirrors a translucent soul that loves humanity in all its weaknesses, as he loves himself in all his. Deservedly.

Oh my god! that Perla Batalla was the star of the movie! I love her. I want more of her. Why have I never heard her before? The movie is fabulous - I love Leonard, but Perla had the most authenticity and beauty of the whole deal. I wish she had more solos. She is beautiful and talented. I can't wait to find out if she has music of her own. Other observations: did Leonard say that Chelsea Hotel was written about Janis Jopin? I must research that but for right now I'm just relishing in my bliss from finally seeing the movie. Was Nick Cave screwing up the words? It seemed that way. I can't wait to learn more about Antony. I've always loved Rufus Wainright but he seems like quite the showboater and even though he did several songs, I perferred Perla Batalla and that other woman. This movie is a must see for anyone who thinks they have excellent taste in music.

It was a great hybrid, fascinating snippets and tidbits. Allow the filmmaker her vision. I loved the performances, which are all endearingly flawed. Cohen's humility transcends luminosity. Antony's performance tapped like vigilantes in my ribcage. It is true that the interruptions were off-putting, but they can't be labeled as digressions inasmuch as Leonard Cohen was the true star. In fact, several people I spoke with commented that they would have preferred it simply be Cohen sung by Cohen, but I rebut: What about Cohen's legacy? His legacy ( his legends, his mythology) is just as important as the man himself. To see a variety of accomplished performers dare offer their renditions of Cohen is not only compelling, it intoxicates the senses and the imagination. A must see for any Montrealer or admirer of LC or simply poetry.