''Songwriter'' is a 1984 film directed by

Alan Rudolph Alan Steven Rudolph (born December 18, 1943) is an American film director and screenwriter. Early life Rudolph was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Oscar Rudolph (1911–1991), a television director and actor, and his wife. He b ...

. At the

57th Academy Awards The 57th Academy Awards were presented March 25, 1985, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles. Jack Lemmon presided over the ceremonies. This ceremony marked the first time that multiple black nominees would win an Oscar, when Prince an ...

, it received an

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

nomination for Best Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Adaptation Score for

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is a retired American singer, songwriter and actor. Among his songwriting credits are " Me and Bobby McGee", " For the Good Times", " Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and " Help Me Make It Through the ...

Genre

The film is a

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or ...

comedy-drama about an artist seeking his freedom. The material is loosely based on

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and ''Stardust'' (1978 ...

's own life and legend and finances. His song "

Night Life Nightlife is a collective term for entertainment that is available and generally more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning. It includes pubs, bars, nightclubs, parties, live music, concerts, cabarets, theatre, ...

", for example, which he sold in 1961 for $150, went on to be recorded by over 70 artists and sold more than 30 million copies.

Plot

Doc Jenkins (

) is a country and western composer, who employs devious tricks to extricate himself from his legal entanglement with a

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and th ...

gangster entrepreneur who takes all the profits from his songs. Fed up with life touring and making no money from recordings of his music, Doc has turned to managing the career of his old singing partner Blackie Buck (

). Doc takes a further client - a woman singer, Gilda (

Lesley Ann Warren Lesley Ann Warren (born August 16, 1946) is an American actress and singer. She made her Broadway debut in 1963, aged 17, in '' 110 in the Shade''. In 1965 she received wide recognition for playing the title role in the television musical prod ...

). He wants to get back with his ex-wife Honey (

Melinda Dillon Melinda Dillon (born October 13, 1939) is a retired American actress. She received a 1963 Tony Award nomination for her Broadway debut in the original production of ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'', and she was nominated for the Academy Award ...

), and to get solid ground beneath his feet again.

Reception

The film is reviewed, favorably, by the critic

Pauline Kael Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael's opinions oft ...

in her collection of movie reviews, '' Hooked''. "Playing a vain, laid-back sensualist, the silver bearded Kristofferson has a smiling glow; he has never been more at ease;

Rip Torn Elmore Rual "Rip" Torn Jr. (February 6, 1931 – July 9, 2019) was an American actor whose career spanned more than 60 years. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his part as Marsh Turner in '' Cross Creek'' ...

is the picture's insurance against gentility. Everything he says sounds mean and dirty, and even when you can't understand his snarled out words he makes you laugh. Rhonda Dotson has something of

Teri Garr Teri Ann Garr (born December 11, 1944) is an American former actress, dancer, and comedian. She frequently appeared in comedic roles throughout her career, which spans four decades and includes over 140 credits in film and television. Her accola ...

's manic alertness and dippiness, too, but in a softer form. She's a romantic comedienne with awesome poise.

Richard C. Sarafian Richard Caspar Sarafian (April 28, 1930 – September 18, 2013) was an Armenian-American film director and actor. He compiled a versatile career that spanned over five decades as a director, actor, and writer. Sarafian is best known as the direct ...

has a whomping comic menace.

's Gilda is spectacular. When we first see Gilda, she's a singer with no belief in herself and no class; she's an incredibly beautiful girl in a red dress utwhen Doc grooms her to go out as the opening act for Blackie, she begins to learn something about taste and musicianship, and her voice flowers. Besides being one of the great beauties of the screen, Warren can sing."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

gave the film out of a possible 4 stars, and says ""Songwriter" is one of those movies that grows on you. It doesn't have a big point to prove, and it isn't all locked into the requirements of its plot. It's about spending some time with some country musicians who are not much crazier than most country musicians, and are probably nicer than some. It also has a lot of good music." On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

the film has an approval rating of 100% based on reviews from 5 critics.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Songwriter (Film) 1984 films 1980s musical comedy films American satirical films Country music films 1980s English-language films Films directed by Alan Rudolph TriStar Pictures films 1984 comedy films 1980s American films