''Greetings from Tim Buckley'' is a 2012 American film directed by

Daniel Algrant Daniel Algrant is an American filmmaker and writer. He co-wrote and directed ''Naked in New York'' (1993), a film produced by Martin Scorsese. Algrant was a repeat director for the television series ''Sex and The City'' and the director of films ' ...

starring

Penn Badgley Penn Dayton Badgley (born November 1, 1986) is an American actor and musician. He is known for his roles as Dan Humphrey in The CW teen drama series ''Gossip Girl'' (2007–2012) and as Joe Goldberg in the Netflix thriller series '' You'' (2018 ...

and

Imogen Poots Imogen Gay Poots (born 3 June 1989) is an English actress and model. She played Tammy in the post-apocalyptic horror film ''28 Weeks Later'' (2007), Linda Keith in the Jimi Hendrix biopic '' Jimi: All Is by My Side'' (2013), Debbie Raymond in ...

. The film follows the journey

Jeff Buckley Jeffrey Scott Buckley (November 17, 1966 – May 29, 1997), raised as Scott Moorhead, was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. After a decade as a session guitarist in Los Angeles, Buckley amassed a following in the early 1990s by ...

took in grappling with the legacy of his late musician father, Tim, leading up to and culminating with his performance of his father's songs. The film premiered at the

2012 Toronto International Film Festival The 37th annual Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada between September 6 and September 16, 2012. TIFF announced the films that were accepted on August 21, 2012. On its 37th edition the TIFF included a 2 ...

on September 9, 2012 to generally positive reviews. The film was released on May 3, 2013, in a

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

Plot

In 1991, a young Jeff Buckley rehearses for his public singing debut at a Brooklyn tribute show for his father, the late folk singer Tim Buckley. Struggling with the legacy of a man he barely knew, Jeff forms a friendship with an enigmatic young woman Allie, working at the show and begins to discover the powerful potential of his own musical voice. ''Greetings from Tim Buckley'' is filled with stirring musical performances and the memorable songs of a father and son who were each among the most beloved singer/songwriters of their respective generations.

Cast

Ben Rosenfield Ben Rosenfield is an American actor and musician, best known for playing Willie Thompson on the fourth and fifth seasons of HBO's period crime drama series '' Boardwalk Empire'' (2013–2014). His first role was in the Off-Broadway stage adapta ...

Tim Buckley Timothy Charles Buckley III (February 14, 1947 – June 29, 1975) was an American musician. His music and style changed considerably through the years. Buckley began his career based in folk music, but his subsequent albums experimented with ja ...

as Allie, a young woman who meets Jeff Buckley while working at a concert. * Frank Wood as

Gary Lucas Gary Lucas (born June 20, 1952) is an American guitarist/songwriter/composer who was a member of Captain Beefheart's band. He formed the band Gods and Monsters in 1989. Lucas has released more than 50 albums to date as a solo artist or band l ...

* Norbert Leo Butz as

Hal Willner Hal Willner (April 6, 1956 – April 7, 2020) was an American music producer working in recording, films, television, and live events. He was best known for assembling tribute albums and events featuring a wide variety of artists and musical sty ...

Frank Bello Frank Bello (born July 9, 1965) is an American musician who plays bass for the thrash metal band Anthrax. Early life Bello is the nephew of Anthrax drummer Charlie Benante. He had a younger brother Anthony, who was murdered in the Bronx, New Yo ...

Richard Hell Richard Lester Meyers (born October 2, 1949), better known by his stage name Richard Hell, is an American singer, songwriter, bass guitarist and writer. Hell was in several important early punk rock bands, including Neon Boys, Television and T ...

* Jennifer Turner as Herself

Production

Principal photography took place in August and September 2011 in New York City. Interior scenes were shot at St. Ann's Church in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

where Buckley's actual gig occurred back in 1991. Production was managed by Smuggler Films and A-Z productions. Screenwriters are Emma Sheanshang, David Brendel and

. The executive producers include Brian Carmody and Jill Footlick (''Boys Don't Cry'', ''The Private Lives of Pippa Lee'') and Ben Limberg. Producers are Fred Zollo, Patrick Milling-Smith, John Hart, and Amy Nauiokas. Avy Kauffman is the casting director. Music used in the film comes from the Tim Buckley estate, except

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

's "

Hallelujah ''Hallelujah'' ( ; he, ''haləlū-Yāh'', meaning "praise Yah") is an interjection used as an expression of gratitude to God. The term is used 24 times in the Hebrew Bible (in the book of Psalms), twice in deuterocanonical books, and four tim ...

," which Jeff Buckley covered on his only studio album, the 1994 ''

Grace Grace may refer to: Places United States * Grace, Idaho, a city * Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois * Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office * Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uninco ...

''. Jeff's character and

also jam on the instrumental of "Grace" as a song idea that Gary had. Singer-songwriter Jann Klose sings and plays guitar on the Tim Buckley songs, "Song For Janie," "Pleasant Street," and "Once I Was." Badgley was cast after he sent a tape of him singing. The audition tape that he sent included an interpretation of ''

Led Zeppelin III ''Led Zeppelin III'' is the third studio album by the English rock music, rock band Led Zeppelin, released on 5 October 1970. It was recorded in three locations. Much of the work was done at Headley Grange, a country house, using the Rolling St ...

'', which also appears in the film. For the role, Badgley lost some weight: "I remember in my head thinking, 'I'm never going to be able to get as thin as him, so I'm just going to stop working out. I'm just going to stop getting in the sun. I'm just going to try to get as thin and pale as possible'." He also took guitar and vocal lessons. The vocal coach taught him how to warm up and warm down his voice and the guitar teacher taught him scales and progressions. Serving as a consultant, songwriter and former collaborator of Jeff Buckley,

played and rehearsed with Badgley. Badgley performed all his singing scenes live. Pictures of the set surfaced on August 22, 2011. while the first official images were released on August 14, 2012, with additional ones on August 24, 2012. Algrant explained: "The concert is true – the rest is fictionalized and conjecture. I really tried to be as emotionally honest as I could be, as opposed to having to worry about truth."

Release

Celluloid Dreams Celluloid Dreams is a French film production and distribution company that also operates as an international sales company. Additionally, the company runs a video on-demand platform, The Auteurs, in conjunction with The Criterion Collection. Cel ...

obtained the international rights in January 2012. Focus Film and Tribeca acquired the U.S. rights in December 2012. ''Greetings from Tim Buckley'' had its world premiere at the

on September 9, 2012. The film was also screened at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

on April 23, 2013 and was released in a

on May 3, 2013.

Reception

Upon its premiere at the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival, Deborah Young of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' said it was a "sensitive, well-cast film about father-son musicians Tim and Jeff Buckley gets the emotions and music just right". Young also praised lead actor Badgley for his "vibrant break-out performance" noting his "seductive energy" and Poots pointing out her "strong screen presence". ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' was also positive of Badgley's portrayal writing he "does an impressive turn as Jeff." ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' placed ''Greetings from Tim Buckley'' among their top six favorite movies of the festival. ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' Dennis Harvey was critical of the narration deeming it "scant". He described Jeff as "a fine illustration of how good, even great art can be made by exasperating personalities that only a groupie (or biographer) could love" and concluded: "The result is at once skillfully observed and a bit so-what."

References

External links

* * * * {{Rotten Tomatoes, greetings_from_tim_buckley 2012 films 2010s biographical films American biographical films Biographical films about musicians Biographical films about singers Films directed by Daniel Algrant Films set in 1991 Films shot in New York City Cultural depictions of folk musicians Cultural depictions of rock musicians 2010s English-language films 2010s American films