Critic Reviews
Neil Young: Heart of Gold (2006) Rank 3 Reviews
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Entertainment Weekly
Young, wizened yet valiant, his voice still braying at the moon, delivers these songs of aging and loss as if caught in a beautiful dream of what lies waiting for him on the other side. ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Entertainment Weekly
San Francisco Chronicle (Joel Selvin)
A snapshot of a fabled career that's of little interest to anyone outside Young's fans. ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at San Francisco Chronicle (Joel Selvin)
filmcritic.com
A recent Associated Press article reported how documentaries were among the best-reviewed movies of the year. One of the movies mentioned was Jonathan Demme's Neil Young: Heart of Gold, which profiles the legendary singer/songwriter's August 2005 ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at filmcritic.com
Orlando Weekly (Corey Hall)
Jonathan Demmeâs fiction movies may not always score, but the director certainly knows how to dish up live concert films. And while singer-songwriter Neil Young came a-cropper with last yearâs pretentious, dreary âGreendale,â heâs still capable ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Orlando Weekly (Corey Hall)
Lobo Howls (Judith Wolfe)
Concert films come in many forms and director Jonathan Demme has elevated the level of this genre to art. His focus this time is aging hipster, Neil Young. It was filmed over two nights in Nashville at the Ryman Auditorium in August of 2005. It is a ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Lobo Howls (Judith Wolfe)
Jam! Movies
Following surgery for a brain aneurysm, Neil Young gathers his musician friends, including Emmylou Harris, to perform a two-night stand at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville in support of his new album, Prairie Wind.
The world almost lost Neil Young last ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Jam! Movies
Chicago Reader (J.R. Jones)
Given what Young charges for concert tickets, all his organs could be gold. So I was even more grateful for this documentary of his August 2005 shows at the fabled Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, expertly directed by Jonathan Demme. ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Chicago Reader (J.R. Jones)
Village Voice (Tom Charity)
Recaps and effectively mythologizes this nugget of modern folklore in brief interviews with Young and a band of old reliables, including Spooner Oldham, Grant Boatwright, and Ben Keith. ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Village Voice (Tom Charity)
The Hollywood Reporter
This smart, aesthetically understated concert film from Jonathan Demme will transport Young's legions of baby boomer fans back to the future, as 1969 re-invents itself in 2005 for Young. ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at The Hollywood Reporter
The New York Times (Manohla Dargis)
At one point, during one of his occasional verbal rambles, he (Young) says half-jokingly, half-defensively that he's got some love songs left in him. This film, which is at once a valentine from one artist to another and a valentine from a musician to ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at The New York Times (Manohla Dargis)
Daily Mirror [UK] (David Edwards)
The result is simply spellbinding. ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Daily Mirror [UK] (David Edwards)
Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
Director Demme is smart and sensitive enough to sit back and listen to the music without attention-getting intrusions. The tunes are subtly compelling. ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
filmcritic.com (Pete Croatto)
Regardless of what you call it, Heart of Gold is a revelation and one of 2006's best movies. ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at filmcritic.com (Pete Croatto)
New York Times (Manohla Dargis)
Jonathan Demme's concert film captures Neil Young in a ruminative state of mind at Nashville's storied Ryman Auditorium, original home of the Grand Ole Opry. ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at New York Times (Manohla Dargis)
Fulvue Drive-in
Neil Young is one of Rockâs greatest legends and survivors for so many reasons that maybe a full-length book would begin to explain it all, but he is an American Original, one of the most important voices in American music up there with Bob Dylan and ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Fulvue Drive-in
Cutting Edge
âNeil Young: heart of goldâ begint klassiek. Enkele bevoorrechte getuigen vertellen kort iets over Young, of ze dissen één of andere anekdote uit het verleden op. Opvallend is dat alle beelden in die beginscène gefilmd werden in hetzij een ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Cutting Edge
Salt Lake Tribune (Sean Means)
There are no audience reactions and little behind-the-scenes footage -- just Young and his friends, making beautiful music. ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Salt Lake Tribune (Sean Means)
Sacramento Bee (Chris Macias)
Neil Young: Heart of Gold turns the traditional concert film into an exquisite, intimate experience. ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Sacramento Bee (Chris Macias)
Denver Post (Lisa Kennedy)
Like its troubadour, Heart of Gold is smart and generous with its seeming simplicity. ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Denver Post (Lisa Kennedy)
Movie Habit (Rise Keller)
After a slow start, Demme allows Young to reveal his pure love of family and yearning for home ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Movie Habit (Rise Keller)
St. Paul Pioneer Press (Chris Hewitt (St. Paul))
Demme's camera gives us the best possible seats, seats that sometimes put us just a couple of inches from Young, and he makes sure Heart of Gold is a concert film that works both as a concert and a film. ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at St. Paul Pioneer Press (Chris Hewitt (St. Paul))
Seattle Times (Ted Fry)
If you're looking for a piece of entertainment that's a superlative showcase by and for one of popular music's most iconic figures, search no further than Neil Young: Heart of Gold. ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Seattle Times (Ted Fry)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Duane Dudek)
A work of dreamlike eloquence, that, like Young's music, is both spare and rich. ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Duane Dudek)
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) (Kate Taylor)
This remarkable concert film, beautifully shot by director Jonathan Demme over two days last summer, is all about legacy, a more-or-less conscious exercise in myth-making on the part of a musical giant facing his own mortality. ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at The Globe and Mail (Toronto) (Kate Taylor)
Newark Star-Ledger (Stephen Whitty)
In his new concert film, though, Neil Young: Heart of Gold he shows his age. And embraces it. ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Newark Star-Ledger (Stephen Whitty)
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) (John Beifuss)
The songs situate the performer within the continuum of not just family but music history... ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) (John Beifuss)
TotalFilm
Brain aneurysm, a lifetime of rock and a seething aversion to his government â Neil Young is, without doubt, a fascinating bloke. Shame, then, that director Jonathan Demme only grabs about a minuteâs worth of interview in what is, mainly, a concert ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at TotalFilm
New York Daily News (Elizabeth Weitzman)
Dropping in amusing anecdotes and tender memories, a deeply reflective Young revisits -- and often reinterprets -- both his recent and classic work. ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at New York Daily News (Elizabeth Weitzman)
NYC Film Critic (Ethan Alter)
An elegant companion piece to Jim Jarmuschâs scraggly Year of the Horse, Jonathan Demmeâs Neil Young: Heart of Gold documents the rockerâs August 2005 performance at Nashvilleâs Ryman Auditorium during his tour for last yearâs Prairie Wind (an ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at NYC Film Critic (Ethan Alter)
Reel.com
Filmed over two nights in Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium, in August of 2005, Jonathan Demme's luminous concert film Neil Young: Heart of Gold captures one of rock's elder statesmen in the twilight of his influential career. With gifted ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Reel.com
Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)
As shown on his classic Stop Making Sense (1984), Jonathan Demme knows just how to film a concert without resorting to short attention-span tricks. He doesn't worry about his viewers getting bored and he doesn't bother wildly moving the camera around, ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Combustible Celluloid (Jeffrey M. Anderson)
Sunday Online, Australia (Peter Thompson)
Seven years before winning an Oscar for directing The Silence of the Lambs, Jonathan Demme made one of the great rock concert films in Stop Making Sense with David Byrne. What we lose in a concert film is obviously the spontaneity of the live event â ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Sunday Online, Australia (Peter Thompson)
Moviecentre.net
Filmed over two nights in Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium, in August of 2005, Jonathan Demme's luminous concert film Neil Young: Heart of Gold captures one of rock's elder statesmen in the twilight of his influential career. With gifted ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Moviecentre.net
Must See Flix (Craig Brown)
Writing about Jonathan Demmeâs beautiful and melancholy âNeil Young: Heart of Goldâ requires me to talk a bit about the only Neil Young performance I have ever seen live. It was about two years ago at Madison Square Garden in New York, and my ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Must See Flix (Craig Brown)
Eric D. Snider
One of the major names in the soundtrack of my childhood is Neil Young. I never paid much attention to him, but my dad is an avid fan, and Young's records were played often when I was growing up. So his music is familiar to me. I can hear something and ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Eric D. Snider
Bina007 Movie Reviews
NEIL YOUNG: HEART OF GOLD is one of those rare things - a movie where the audience sits right through to the end of the end-credits and then breaks into applause. This feels right because the movie is essentially like watching a music concert given by a ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Bina007 Movie Reviews
The Arizona Republic
When it comes to pop-music icons, Neil Young is the full package.
A prolific songwriter with an unmistakable voice, Young's four-decade career has spanned country-rock (Buffalo Springfield), protest music (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) and solo forays ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at The Arizona Republic
Haro Online
Most musical documentaries seem to overlook the fact that people are watching for the music. There is too much talking, and worse, sometimes the narrator or interviewees will speak over the music. Director Jonathan Demme (The Manchurian Candidate, The ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Haro Online
Sacramento News & Review (Jonathan Kiefer)
Last August, Neil Young assembled some kindred-spirit musicians and filmmaker Jonathan Demme in Nashvilleâs Ryman Auditorium, the longtime home of the Grand Ole Opry, to perform the music he wrote after losing his father and being diagnosed with a ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Sacramento News & Review (Jonathan Kiefer)
DVD Town (Dean Winkelspecht)
"Silence of Lambs" director Jonathan Demme and American musical legend Neil Young worked together for two nights to create the concert film "Neil Young: Heart of Gold." Focusing on his recent album "Prairie Wind," "Heart of Gold" showcases songs from ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at DVD Town (Dean Winkelspecht)
filethirteen.com
When I was a kid in elementary school and in love for the first time with a girl named Tammy Gray, I discovered pop music on my local radio station that let me know the aching in my heart was real. "Without You" by Nillsson, "Everything I Own" by Bread, ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at filethirteen.com
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Prairie Wind" is a haunting reflection on the things that really matter in this world, friends and family in particular, much of it written and even recorded as Neil Young was counting down the days to surgery on a potentially fatal brain aneurysm. ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Film-Forward.com
Rock legend Neil Young was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm in the spring of 2005. Facing mortality head on, Young decided to do what he does best. He wrote music. The product was his most recent album, Prairie Wind. Filmed over two nights at ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Film-Forward.com
Salon.com (Stephanie Zacharek)
Heart of Gold is a sweet, gentle picture, if not a particularly exhilarating one. ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Salon.com (Stephanie Zacharek)
Sun Newspapers of Cleveland
There are concert films that suffer from slavish devotion to the artist, such as Led Zeppelin's "The Song Remains the Same," and then there are ones that let the music and the musicians carry the load, like The Band's "The Last Waltz." The former ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Sun Newspapers of Cleveland
UTK Daily Beacon (Zachary Zoeller)
The music world had a scare when rock legend Neil Young suffered a brain aneurysm in March 2005 during the recording of his latest album âPrairie Wind.â For a brief moment, we had to picture a world without him, a world without one of the most ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at UTK Daily Beacon (Zachary Zoeller)
411mania.com (Chad Webb)
For many decades now, Neil Young has been experimenting as a musician and entertaining fans as one of the most respected, prolific, and versatile artists in history. In Neil Young: Heart of Gold, viewers gaze into his soul through compelling and ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at 411mania.com (Chad Webb)
Cinemalogue.com (Rubin Safaya)
Allow me to preface my review by saying that Iâm not particularly a fan of Neil Young. I went in expecting this to be a conventional documentary, but was surprised to see a theatrical release of whatâs essentially a concert.
Young, a child of ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Cinemalogue.com (Rubin Safaya)
The Guardian (Andrew Pulver)
Like Tom Waits, Iggy Pop and David Byrne, Neil Young is a musician beloved of a certain school of American film-maker - your old-school, indie-maverick type, essentially. One of ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at The Guardian (Andrew Pulver)
A Guide to Current DVD (Aaron Beierle)
Filmed over the span of two nights at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN., "Heart of Gold" marks director Jonathan Demme's return to the documentary genre (the classics "Stop Making Sense" and "Swimming to Cambodia") after a lengthy run of making ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at A Guide to Current DVD (Aaron Beierle)
BBC Films
In spring 2005, singer/songwriter Neil Young discovered he had a potentially fatal brain aneurysm. Prairie Wind is the album he wrote in the weeks following that bombshell, performed here under the loving gaze of director Jonathan Demme. Young clutches ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at BBC Films
MTV.com (Kurt Loder)
No director approaches the subject of music, and the players who make it, with more respect and understanding than Jonathan Demme. Demme made one of the most mesmerizing of all rock concert documentaries â the 1984 Talking Heads feature, "Stop Making ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at MTV.com (Kurt Loder)
ReelTalk (Adam Hakari)
One of the great movie experiences of my life was the first time I saw Stop Making Sense, Jonathan Demme's concert classic. From the moment I first saw it on video, I was hooked and became an instant fan of the terrific starring band, Talking Heads. So ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at ReelTalk (Adam Hakari)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
It works as a wistful coda to suggest that the song will go on long after the show is over. ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
"Neil Young: Heart of Gold" is every bit as laid-back and genial as the musician is himself.
This is an enjoyably no-frills concert film that serves as a more folk-driven counterpoint to his considerably more rock 'n' roll 1979 film "Rust Never ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Philadelphia City Paper (Sam Adams)
Like Greendale, Neil Young's Prairie Wind makes a better movie than it does an album. Holding court at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, former home of the Grand Ole Opry, Young makes his way through all but one of Prairie Wind's 10 songs, a loosely focused ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Philadelphia City Paper (Sam Adams)
The Nick Schager Film Project
An elegant companion piece to Jim Jarmuschâs scraggly Year of the Horse, Jonathan Demmeâs Neil Young: Heart of Gold documents the rockerâs August 2005 performance at Nashvilleâs Ryman Auditorium during his tour for last yearâs Prairie Wind (an ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at The Nick Schager Film Project
Exclaim! (Allan Tong)
A year ago, Canadaâs most renowned singer-songwriter survived a brain aneurysm and went on to record an album about family, home and remembrance. On the accompanying tour for Prairie Wind, Neil Young played two nights in Nashville, where he invited ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Exclaim! (Allan Tong)
Film Freak Central
Not long after the death of his dementia-stricken father and in the four days preceding an operation to fix a potentially fatal brain aneurysm, Young recorded "Prairie Road", then called ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Film Freak Central
Reeling Reviews (Robin and Laura Clifford)
Music icon Neil Young joins forces with filmmaking maestro Jonathan Demme as they journey to the Ryman Auditorium in Nasheville, Tennessee, the original home of the Grand Ole Opry, for a two-night concert. Backed up by his veteran band of musicians and ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Reeling Reviews (Robin and Laura Clifford)
DVD Verdict (Russell Engebretson)
The first few minutes of the movie includes brief interviews with many of Neil Young's bandmates and a few shots of various Nashville locations. Then it's right on to the concert footage.
Young, surrounding himself with dozens of musicians and ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at DVD Verdict (Russell Engebretson)
Reel.com
Grateful and wildly inspired after surviving a near-fatal brain aneurysm, music legend Neil Young recently wrote and recorded what is, perhaps, his most stirring and evocative album, Prairie Wind. Enter director Jonathan Demme with a free year, a love of ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Reel.com
Spirituality & Health (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)
Learning that he needed surgery to fix a life-threatening brain aneurysm, Neil Young focused his creative energies on the album Prairie Winds. When the operation was a success, the 59-year-old singer/songwriter headed off to Nashville to present a ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Spirituality & Health (Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat)
Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
Jonathan Demme's ("Stop Making Sense"/"Silence of the Lambs"/"Swimming to Cambodia") understated musical portrait of Neil Young lets the music do the talking and that's great as far as I'm concerned: I love Young's sound. The easy going straightforward, ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)
Bullz-Eye.com
Full disclosure: I cannot stand the sound of Neil Youngâs voice. It makes me want to punch babies. Which is why, for the longest time, I did not like Neil Youngâs songs. Over time, I heard his songs covered by Roxy Music, the Pixies and Duran Duran, ...read the complete Neil Young: Heart of Gold movie review at Bullz-Eye.com
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