Neil Young: Heart of Gold(2006)- User Reviews

Something strange seems to be happening with Neil Young fans. There's two distinct camps emerging, and it appears as if they're becoming more and more alienated from eachother. There's the ones that like him rough and raw, in ripped up t-shirts and old shorts and the ones that like him mellow and sweet, in embroidered suits and a new Stetson. If you're part of the second group, then you're gonna love this movie.
It's basically a concert of his Prairie Winds album (sadly missing 'He was the King'), with some hits from Harvest and Harvest Moon thrown in, and filmed in that close-up style that Demme loves so much. If you like looking so closely into Neil's mouth that you can see his dental bridge, then maybe you'll like it too. Neil's got a host of old band buddies to back him including a stiff and ghostly Emmylou Harris, and supporting them is a string section, horn section and a full chorus. It's almost like Neil Young meets Lawrence Welk in the country. At the end of each song I kept wishing that he would sneak in a 'Sun Green' or 'Carmichael' from his previous album Greendale, but my hopes were answered with only 'This Old Guitar' and something he called 'The Empty Nest Song'. The gray hairs in audience seemed pleased, but I don't think that the sad young girl who sat with her head down next to her parents will become a big fan anytime soon. You can't force anyone to become a Neil Young fan, and you can't will a Neil Young fan to become the kind of fan that you are. You just need to appreciate him as a true artist, and take from his offerings what you will. And so I did. But I'll still be waiting for him to put his grubbies back on.