pleased to meet me : reviews

Post by Pleased to Meet Me.

 

the washington post

 In 2002, the radio program “This American Life” broadcast a memorable episode showcasing a group of musicians — all previously strangers — who were recruited from classified ads to head into the studio for one day to cover Elton John’s “Rocket Man.” Featuring a sultry jazz vocalist, an earnest Christian rocker and an electric violinist with anger-management issues, the deliberately mismatched band managed to churn out a rendition of the pop classic that was surprisingly endearing — even rousing.
Those adjectives could just as easily be applied to “Pleased to Meet Me,” a new feature film inspired by the radio experiment. Directed and co-written by Kentucky filmmaker Archie Borders, the film makes some minor plot and character adjustments here and there: “Rocket Man” is replaced by an original ditty by Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Joe Henry (who also plays a sound engineer), and the violinist (Timothy Morton) now has a drug problem. But it’s a very similar tale with more meat on its bones.
That’s not to say that there’s much at stake here, dramatically speaking. Personal and professional entanglements between old and new flames, and among sometimes insecure musicians, do not necessarily make for fierce conflict. But the comedy — like Henry’s song, an easygoing blues shuffle — has a shaggy, ambling charm.


You can read the full review here.

Some audience reactions found on the film's Facebook page.

"Based on a true(ish) story of a pure(ish) musical experiment, Pleased to Meet Me is an intimate film of musical redemption.
Throwing together an ensemble of lonely hearts club musicians found in the classifieds, the film is an up close look at motivation and chemistry.
I found myself impatient for the music to get here, but the payoff, anchored by Over The Rhine's Karen Berquist, is more than worth the wait."

"Aimee Mann and John Doe are a wonderfully witty pair! The music industry related "truths" portrayed in this film were seriously humorous ? without an obviously scripted attempt. With the help of an equally talented and unique supporting cast, I was surprised at the ease of their performance flow. "Pleased To Meet Me" has such a natural feel, it's as if you are truly observing a real moment in music history."