Review of Song One (2014) by Manny C — 07 Feb 2015

Anne Hathaway's interesting but kinda odd foray as a producer, then lead actor in "Song One" eventually works... a story of looming traumatic family loss is nearly derailed, out of the box, by an overtly fawning singer/songwriter/subway scene... in which the camera gazes endlessly at a near perfect yet improbably isolated, incredibly photogenic singer in a subway. The kind no New Yorker has ever experienced. This would be our heroine's estranged brother. Cue: traumatic accident, and the return of the world traveling sister, and a not entirely predictable hero as hero story line. Only Hathway's acting chops (giving plenty of gravity to an otherwise thin role...) and an eventually deftly executed editing approach rescue this film from the Hallmark channel.

Ultimately "Song One" earns a (B-) from me.