Tom Petty: Runnin' Down A Dream

[John Junk 2.0]

Did anyone else cash out on four hours of their life to see this documentary?  I like Tom Petty, but I was disappointed.  For four hours into a guy's life, it's dry as a day old hoagie roll.  Nothing about his personal life whatsoever.  Barely anything about the band.  Just a lot of talking heads talking about what  a great poet he is.  It's weird cause I kinda love Tom Petty, but part of it is because he's made classic songs and been consistently good while never really being exceptionally great.  His "history" in the movie is a complete boomer cliche: his dad was mean to him and his mom was nice!  He got instant success in Hollywood, then had some legal battles, then wrote "The Last D.J." after being inducted into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame.  I guess I feel like, just 'cause you make an uncritical rockumentary about a guy 2.5 hours longer than it needs to be doesn't make it good or important.

[Chris L]

Four hours... Bogdonavich must have snuck in an Orson Welles anecdote somewhere, right?

[Matt]

Four hours... Bogdonavich must have snuck in an Orson Welles anecdote somewhere, right?

No, but he did insist that all the interviewees wear ascots.

[<<<<<]

Nothing about his personal life whatsoever.

 

Ouch.

Barely anything about the band.

Double ouch.   

[John Junk 2.0]

Nothing about his personal life whatsoever.

 

Ouch.

Barely anything about the band.

Double ouch.   

I can't figure out if you're making fun of me or empathizing with my disappointment.

[Omar]

Did the scene of Bogdo teaching Benmont Tench how to do a Hitchcock impression make the final cut?

[daveB from Oakland]

Didn't see it ... but I figure that it's possible for someone to be a good singer/songwriter/performer even though he's not a a particularly fascinating personality.

He was interesting enough on "Fresh Air" on NPR ... but that's less than half an hour. Or maybe they gave him a little more time than that. In any case, didn't require the same level of time commitment.

Any good live footage on the DVD? Do they have any complete, uninterrupted songs in the bonus material? Or is everything chopped up?

[jamesp]

I haven't watched it since it premiered in two parts on PBS last fall (although I got the DVD as a Christmas present) and I really liked it. I'm not a huge fan of Tom Petty but I thought it was engaging for the whole four hours and had a lot of good interviews/footage of the band.

[buffcoat]

Four hours... Bogdonavich must have snuck in an Orson Welles anecdote somewhere, right?

Ahhhh... the... Frensssshhhh champagne.

[John Junk 2.0]

I guess it's unfair because I'm basically holding this documentary up to the standard of the book "Shakey".  Tom Petty is a great songwriter, and he's probably got an interesting mind, but the actual story of his life is nothing to really write home about I guess.

There are some great old t.v. performances on the doc and there's an entire bonus disc of the 30th Anniversary concert, which I haven't watched.  I kinda like old live t.v. performances more than huge concert footage, personally. 

Another weird thing is the guitarist waited until he was 58 years old to get dreadlocks.

[<<<<<]

I can't figure out if you're making fun of me or empathizing with my disappointment.

Empathizing.  I like Petty too and four hours seems like a long stretch of film without any substance.

[emma]

I can't figure out if you're making fun of me or empathizing with my disappointment.

Empathizing.  I like Petty too and four hours seems like a long stretch of film without any substance.

I read "Petey" and suddenly felt like I had something to contribute to this thread. But then, just as suddenly, the dream vanished.

[daveB from Oakland]

The four-hour Petey documentary would be mind-blowing.

[mokin]

Did they discuss his role on King of the Hill?

[Wes]

Did they discuss his role on King of the Hill?

It comes up before a 23 minute backstage sequence where Petty repeatedly does a mediocre Bobby Hill impression while the Heartbreakers stand around and laugh nervously. At the end, Petty stops and says "I could take over that part right now if, y'know, if I ever had to."  Ron Blair laughs, but Petty turns around and practically stares a hole through him and says "I could do it. I really could." Then there are a few seconds of uncomfortable silence before they cut away.