Whitech
It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.
Lachlan Coulson
This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.
Fulke
Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.
HelloCruelWorld
Some people want to know about the music. Some people want to know about the tragedy.I'm glad that this take on the Elliot Smith story will have some reach for the generations to come who discover him.Sometimes, it's best to be remembered for what you gave to society with the talent that you had, and how it impacted thousands of people long after you were gone, than to focus on the drama, the tabloid fodder and the allegations of your personal life for strangers to obsess over.I'm glad this film focused on the music. After all, what were you doing going to see an Elliot Smith film if it wasn't about the music in the first place?
mdroel20
It happened to be the 20th anniversary of Elliott Smith's self- titled that I watched Nickolas Dylan Rossi's portrait of the beloved singer-songwriter whose talents were taken far too soon from this earth. Elliott Smith was one of the finest lyricist and delivered his gut wrenching lyrics in a quivering, whispery fashion. Unfortunately, his career was tragically cut short at the age of 34, but Nickolas Dylan Rossi has kept his legacy alive in his new film, Heaven Adores You. Rossi's directorial debut, funded by Kickstarter, is an Elliott Smith fan's dream, as it is a celebration of the singer's career, full of unreleased material and insights into Smith's world.The film itself is beautifully painful. Visually, Rossi accentuates Smith's journey from his emergence in the Portland music scene to his brush with super-stardom in New York and Los Angeles with magnificent images of the surrounding landscapes. Interviews with Smith helped delve into his almost reluctant popularity, as at one point he stated, he did interviews and played concerts merely to continue to write and record music, his passion. The interviews with colleagues and friends, on the other hand, served more as catharsis for them, as they were semi-insightful, but overall mostly unremarkable. The pain is there though, 12 years removed from Smith's demise, his presence is felt, again evoked from Rossi's images, specifically of the tributes around the famous Figure 8 wall. Though it may have been sexy and appealing to show, the film's strength is the exclusion of the imprecise details that surround Smith's apparent suicide. The film serves as a tribute and introspection of Smith's talents and rise, rather than his flaws and fall.Photographer, Autumn De Wilde, couldn't have concluded the film in a more excellent fashion by stating, Smith used "the words we couldn't find when we were sad." He was the voice of common misery and made even the most desperate, disparaging of times seem so beautiful.
megamoto85
I hoped i could see more of Elliott, i.e unscreened interviews or unreleased songs, this documentary could have been 20 minutes, instead its one and a half hour of boring footage of streets trains houses and so on, also, Nicholas Rossi milked this for years until i finally could watch it outside of the states, man what a disappointment.Some of the interviews was interesting, but it just doesn't hold up at all, Nicholas Rossi made this to make money, and it shows, Elliott would turn in his grave if he knew this would be released. Im just so saddened that this was allowed.Lets hope someone that actually uses footage from his life, and actually knows Elliotts story, describing an proper "life and death" of this wonderful man makes a proper documentary.
bigmystery23
I was able to catch the world premiere of this film in San Francisco. When I came in, I had absolutely no idea who Elliott Smith was, and that's what made this experience good. Elliott Smith is a very talented musician (as most fans already know), and it was a great choice from the director to use his music to move the film forward and to be a part of telling this story. But not even his music could make this "documentary" any less bland.I put quotations over the word because this did not feel like a documentary, rather a nice tribute to a renowned artist. I give props to the director for helping introduce this young man, showing his awkwardness, humbleness, messy look, and troublesome upcoming into the music industry. But what starts out as a promising look into Elliott Smith's mind is ultimately diminished by lack of substance. I felt that there wasn't enough of Elliott Smith's own perspective of himself, rather memories of family and friends. And though memories can be exciting, funny, etc., there is still something missing from the entirety of a memory when told to people who weren't there.When watching the movie, it is obvious that the director has background in cinematography because there are some beautifully filmed things. But the shots are so gratuitous. Quite frankly, it drove me crazy to see shots of Portland after a while because it took up almost half the movie! The film shouldn't have revolved around Portland, rather Portland should have been an aspect of Elliott Smith's career.Overall, this movie is definitely more for fans than for those who don't know about him.
