Two Tennessee singer-songwriters take center stage in this rambling pseudo-documentary. Scruffy-looking Todd Snider and glamorous Elizabeth Cook seem to take their singing seriously, but when they aren't making music, the pair carry on conversations that feel stiff and scripted. The story begins when Cook returns to Nashville from a trial run with a New York producer who wanted to build a talk show around her (in clips, she meets David Letterman and interviews Anthony Bourdain on the set of Late Show). Cook didn't like their ideas, so Snider suggests they make their own. The documentary itself represents an abridged version of a show in which Cook interviews local figures, although during filming she also decides to create a fragrance (“it's mood maintenance and aromatherapy in one bottle”)—a wrinkle that comes out of left field. Mostly, however, the singers drink, smoke pot, trade quips, and make faces at the camera, although occasionally musicians show up to play songs with them, including Chuck Mead, Jeff Austin, Tanya Coe, and the Turbo Fruits. As a transition between scenes, co-directors Brad and Todd Barnes (Snider refers to the duo as “some douche whistles from New York”) throw in post-production animated effects that add little. The roots-based music isn't bad, but everything else feels extraneous. It seems likely that the Barnes brothers were aiming for humor over realism, but East Nashville Tonight falls short on both counts. Optional, at best. (K. Fennessy)
East Nashville Tonight
Bond/360, 76 min., not rated, DVD: $24.99 Volume 30, Issue 2
East Nashville Tonight
Star Ratings
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