Review of Greetings from Tim Buckley (2013) by Manny C — 12 May 2013

A young, unknown, 24-year-old Jeff Buckley (Penn Badgley) hops a plane to New York from California in 1991 to reluctantly perform at a tribute concert at Brooklyn's St. Ann's Church to his late father, singer-songwriter Tim Buckley, who died of a heroin overdoes at the age of 28 in 1975.

That's the crux of the narrative in Greetings From Tim Buckley, and director Daniel Algrant (Naked In New York), working from a script by Emma Sheanshang and David Brendel, makes poetry out of it, a haunting tale of father and son who never really knew one another. In flashbacks we see Tim (Ben Rosenfield) building his career, including recording nine albums, while neglecting any family duties, save for sneaking into his ex-wife's home to watch his son in his crib.

Algrant steers Greetings From Tim Buckley from being typical bio-pic swill by focusing on only onen event and the aid of terrific actors, including Robert Leo Butz as Hal Willner, the concert organizer, and a wonderful Imogen Poots as intern Allie, who joins Jeff as he avoids rehearsal to visit his father's old hangouts.

Badgley, best known for his role as brooding Dan Humphrey on tv's Gossip Girl, gives his best performance anywhere yet. He's electrifying, breathing the role, making sure to catch Jeff's humor (check the scene of him imitating rock singers in a record store) and exposing the raw nerves and pain in his vocals. When he performs his father's song 'Once I Was' a cappella after a guitar string breaks, it's his breakthrough performance, one that will lead to his own short career. That Jeff himself died from drowning in 1997 at the age of 30 only underscores the deep sense of loss that resonates the film. It's indelibly moving, the film and Badgley. Grace indeed.