I Am Trying to Break Your Heart

One needn't be a fan of the Chicago alt-country-rock band Wilco to enjoy this revealing documentary about the trials and tribulations of the making of the group's fourth, critically acclaimed, album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot. Fairly conventional from a technical standpoint--there are candid shots of the group at work in their loft and on tour, interviews with band members, and talking-head inserts from outside observers--the picture becomes dramatically compelling as a result of the twists the story takes. While filming continues, the band not only reaches an impasse with their record label over the release of the new album but also ejects one of their founding members, shifting the film's focus away from a mild, if pleasant tribute, and more towards a sly dissection of the inanities of the contemporary music business, coupled with a rather sad demonstration of the difficulties of artistic collaboration. If all this occurred in a fiction film, it might be hard to swallow, but here it seems not only credible but also weirdly inevitable, making for a fascinating, insightful, frequently amusing, and sometimes poignant, music documentary (and the generous sampling of Wilco's music throughout certainly doesn't hurt either). Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by director Sam Jones and Wilco band members (Jeff Tweedy, John Stirratt, Leroy Bach, Glenn Kotche), 57 minutes of extra footage, Jeff Tweedy's uncut solo performances “Not for the Season” (2 min.) and “Sunken Treasure (6 min), filmed at San Francisco's Great American Music Hall, the seven-minute behind-the-scenes featurette “I Am Trying to Make a Film,” and a trailer. Bottom line: A generous extras package for a solid music documentary.] (F. Swietek)