Review: 'Song One' starring Anne Hathaway and Johnny Flynn

 NOTE: This is a reprint of my review from last year's Sundance Film Festival. 

Coming off Anne Hathaway's unforgettable, heartbreaking cries in Les Miserables, one might expect that seeing her in a film titled Song One would promise a similar emotional tenor. Nothing could be further from reality, other than the many chirpy contrivances in this airy story about a folk musician and an anthropologist who find love in the midst of sudden tragedy.

Henry (Ben Rosenfield) is one of those passionate sub-indie musicians plying his trade in the New York subway system, playing for pennies so that he can afford to upload his music to MySpace or something. Pursuing his dreams put him at odds with his sister Franny (Hathaway), who is off studying the native tribes of Morocco for her PhD. Their last conversation was heated and hurtful, and they've been estranged ever since. When an accident lands Henry in a coma, all she can recall is how angry they had left things, and decides to do something about. Hoping sensory recall will bring him back, Franny captures all of Henry's favorite sounds and smells, spending every waking moment by his bedside along with their mother (Mary Steenburgen), who resents her daughter's distance. Rifling through things, Franny discovers a concert ticket to see Henry's favorite musician, James Forester (real-life musician Johnny Flynn), and is instantly smitten with both the man and his brand of coffee house folk.

To absolutely nobody's surprise, the two hit it off and soon they are inseparable. Franny brings him to Henry's hospital room to perform for his greatest fan, and she becomes James' top groupie attending all of his concerts. After a hit album five years earlier, James has been touring the clubs of New York, but is now due to return home in a matter of days. Will Henry come out of his coma in time? Will Franny drop her boring career path and embark on a life of musical creativity with James? Will your teeth rot out from this sickeningly sweet extended meet-cute?

Snark aside, there are a few genuine moments between Franny and James as she discovers her own love of music and he is all too happy to share his. Hathaway doesn't get to let the pipes ring out too much, other than a few lines here or there, but Flynn gets multiple opportunities on stage. The film really counts on you digging his sound to help bolster the fairly common love story, but the tracks are rather flavorless and indistinct. Written and directed by first-timer Kate Barker-Froyland, the film has more than its share of tonal misfires. It's always going to be weird when people are chatting away and playing music around a comatose patient, but that awkwardness extends out of the hospital, as well. Hathaway isn't stretching herself too much playing the grieving sister, but Flynn is about as vanilla bland as they come. It's hard to believe this guy has such a commanding presence he's surrounded by a throng of devotees at all times. A film like this should have no problem rounding up an audience looking for an easy, romantic tune to follow, but those hoping for something more will find Song One is a little out of rhythm.

 Rating: 2.5 out of 5

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Anne Hathaway Makes Beautiful Music in First Trailer for 'Song One'

Following on her heartbreaking portrayal in Les Miserables, Anne Hathaway quickly signed on for another musical weeper, Song One. Only this one wasn't met with the same critical adoration, at least not when it debuted at Sundance earlier this year. The film has pretty much been forgotten about since then but with a release date right around the corner the first trailer has been released.

Co-starring musician Johnny Flynn, Song One stars Hathaway as a Brooklyn girl who begins researching her brother's favorite bands after an accident leaves him in a coma. That puts her in touch with her brother's idol (Flynn), and the two embark on a romance fueled by a mutual love of music.

I found the film to be utterly forgettable and "sickeningly sweet", but also something that should appeal easily to audiences looking for a happy diversion. Song One opens January 23rd 2015.

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Red Band Trailer for 'Affluenza' Starring Nicola Peltz, Ben Rosenfield, and Steve Guttenberg(!!!)

Chances are you had never heard of the term "affluenza" before last year when a rich, spoiled Texas teen was given a light probation sentence after his drunk driving resulted in the deaths of four people. He mounted what turned out to be a successful defense claiming he suffered from affluenza, basically that he had lived such a life of privilege that he never learned the difference between right and wrong. It was a landmark case and got a lot of people justifiably pissed, seeing it as just another way that the rich get all the breaks. But Affluenza is definitely a crock of shit a thing now, and it's also a movie starring a pair of hot young stars and a couple of venerable old veteran actors.

Affluenza stars Nicola Peltz, the Bates Motel star who will feature heavily in Transformers: Age of Extinction, Boardwalk Empire's Ben Rosenfield, Grant Gustin (CW's The Flash), Samantha Mathis (American Psycho), and Gregg Sulkin, but what we are obviously most excited about is the presence of Steve Guttenberg, the guy who inspired our vaunted movie rating system. Maybe we can get him in for an interview finally? He's like our white whale or something. Anyway, the film is directed by Kevin Asch, who last helmed the Jesse Eisenberg-led drug flick, Holy Rollers. Affluenza hits theaters on July 11th with a VOD release the same day. Check out the official synopsis below along with the trailer.

Suburbia, 2008. Swept up in a heady pre-recession world of absentee parents, plentiful booze and casual sex, aspiring photographer Fisher Miller (Ben Rosenfield) escapes his middle-class life for the moneyed mansions of the young, beautiful elite. With a stash of high-quality weed and a vintage camera, he gains access to his gorgeous cousin Kate's (Nicola Peltz) circle of wealthy and indulged friends, just as their entitled reality is about to spin out of control. A revealing take on the hidden perils of privilege. 

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Luke Evans Climbs 'High-Rise'; William H. Macy Joins 'Blood Father'; Taissa Farmiga in Untitled Break-Up Film

* Luke Evans, who had a pretty great 2013 as Bard the Bowman in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and as the villain in Fast & Furious 6, has joined Ben Wheatley's new thriller, High-Rise. The anticipated adaptation of J.G. Ballard's book features Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, James Purefoy, and Sienna Miller in lead roles, and takes place in a dystopian society in a luxury high-rise cut off from the rest of humanity. However, a class system emerges in the building and sparks a violent confrontation amongst different tribes. [DailyMail]

* William H. Macy has tweeted an image of himself alongside Mel Gibson on the set of Blood Father, revealing that he has joined the action-thriller in the vein of Taken.  While Jean-Francois Richet (Mesrine) is directing, the real reason for optimism is The Town writer Peter Craig's screenplay which centers on an ex-con who reunites with his estranged wayward 16-year old daughter to protect her from drug dealers who are trying to kill her. Macy's role is unclear but this is one film to keep an eye on for next year.

* Taissa Farmiga, last seen in the psychological thriller Anna, is starring alongside Ben Rosenfield (Boardwalk Empire) in an untitled film from director Hannah Fidell. This will be Fidell's second film after last year's Sundance-debuting drama, A Teacher, which is currently being developed by HBO as a series. Fidell wrote the script with Mark Duplass (Safety Not Guaranteed)  producing the story about a "young couple, who have been together from high school and who are about to graduate college when events threaten to tear them apart." Lindsay Burdge, Joshua Leonard, Peter Vack and Jennifer Lafleur co-star. Filming is already completed so hopefully we'll hear about a title and potential release date. [THR]

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