Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Runnin’ Down a Dream

intrepid (and long) view of a “royal” ride, with a few missing links
I will first acknowledge Salmon 11’s review where he notes there is very little discussion in the film of about any of Tom’s relationships outside the band…his marriage is almost never mentioned outside the production of Echo and his divorce, and his remarriage, to Dana, is only glimpsed at. How much of this is due to Bogdanovich, vs. how much to Tom’s wishes, is unknown, but we never see that side of Tom.Other than that, this film is eye-opening and perhaps the most historically perfect of any rock documentary I’ve ever seen. This is due to completeness in story telling, completeness in artifact, and story line itself.1) completeness in story telling – covers ever major “stop” in Tom’s music career and growth. Except the whole “disco sucks” movement there wasn’t much about that2) completeness in artifact – miraculously, one early member of Mudcrutch kept an 8mm camera at hand’s reach. This is only mentioned on the liner notes on the Blu-Ray. So in addition to all the publicly available archival footage, there is a huge trove of “in-house” very intimate footage from the VERY early years, in addition to stuff you never usually would see, production sessions such as when Tom counsels Roger McGuinn to turn down a song the recording company has written for him, or when they are busted going through German customs. The film is a four-hour monster, but it all “does belong”, one simply cannot ignore the wealth of material they had at their disposal to illustrate the narrative. For me, this is the most unprecedented part of the picture.3) story line itself – what can you say? Historic? Perfect? Made-to-order? The rock and roll dream come true? In living color? Has it all.A few separate notes: Tom’s battles against the recording industry are well-marked: first, the fight for his publishing rights, then, to have control over record pricing. Well-fought battles and well won.Second, his cynicism for the modern media machine that produces “rock stars” on television shows. If there’s one thing you learn from Tom’s life, is wisdom and experience are earned and lived, and to an extent passed down. They are not “manufactured” as many would like. And sometimes, to really stand up and be heard, you have to buck the system.The Heartbreakers themselves are about as nice, talented and tight a bunch of guys you would ever want to meet. They are Tom’s complement to perfection and that is our point of view. It’s a gratifying line to the story when the original bass player rejoins the band.Highly recommended. You will need but won’t regret the four hours’ run time. Enjoy and watch how it’s done.

I agree with most, but I suggest renting
Yes, this is a very good documentary. Maybe one of the best, if you are a Tom Petty fan (who isn’t). However, I would suggest a rental. Why? Because, it is only a documentary. No music. Seems to me there should have been some included on a DVD you actually buy. I mean, I’ve paid less for his music, and I relisten to his tunes all the time. Yes, I might rewatch this, but not much, and years apart likely. I guess I felt I was going to get some tunes too (my bad). Anyway, it is well worth the watch, but not the money you pay for only a documentary (maybe for die hard fans).I suggest High Grass Dogs – Live From The Fillmore, now that is one awesome DVD. Good luck getting it.RIP Tom. Thanks for the life time of tunes.

I’ve been reading about this film for a long time, and now I can finally watch it. Just from the few clips I’ve seen, it looks like an amazing documentary.

Ottimo documentario sulla carriera di uno straordinario musicista e la sua band. Per gli amanti della musica di Tom Petty. Da abbinare al libro di W.Zanes su di lui.

Tom Petty war mir zwar schon lange ein Begriff, viele seiner klassischen Songs aus den 90ern kennt man zwangsläufig: Free Fallin’, I Won’t Back Down etc. Aber erst als mich ein Freund zum Tom-Petty-Konzert in Hamburg überredete, habe ich mich entschlossen, mich mit Pettys Musik und Geschichte zu beschäftigen. Eine Dokumentation von Peter Bogdanovich über Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers? Aha, der Regisseur von “The Last Picture Show” und “Paper Moon” wird von Petty mit seiner ersten Dokumentation betraut? “Interessante Wahl” sagte der Filmfan in mir. Also bestellt und angeschaut. Mit wachsender Begeisterung. Viel Musik und Konzertausschnitte, klar, aber was für eine Bandgeschichte und was für ein Charakter, dieser Tom Petty. Sehr zielstrebig, aber nie opportunistisch. Im Gegenteil, der Mann hat sich mit den Riesen der Musikbranche angelegt und das nicht nur einmal. Das nötigt Respekt ab. Loyalität und Freundschaft werden bei ihm groß geschrieben, der Gerechtigkeitssinn ist ausgeprägt. Das macht den Mann sympathisch, auch wenn er im Zusammenhang mit seiner Band auch mal seinen Kopf gegen (fast) alle anderen durchsetzt. Ich habe Teile der Doku gleich zweimal geschaut und fand es faszinierend. Bogdanovich hat wirklich einen guten Job gemacht, auch bei 3,5 Stunden Lauflänge wird es nicht langweilig, die ganze Doku wirkt straff und frei von unnötigem Ballast. Tatsächlich kann ich mir nicht vorstellen, wo man jetzt hätte kürzen sollen. Als Zugabe gibt es ein fantastisches Konzert: 30 Jahre nach dem Bandstart kommen The Haertbreakers zurück in ihre Heimatstadt Gainesville, Florida. Als “Ehrenmitglied” haben sie Fleetwood Macs Stevie Nicks dabei. Die Stimmung ist unglaublich, der Songkatalog überirdisch. Noch ein Bonus: Eine Soundtrack-CD mit seltenen Versionen der Petty-Songs in der Doku. Ich fühlte mich sehr gut bedient mit der Runnin-Down-A-Dream-Box. Und jetzt freue ich mich richtig auf das Konzert am 10.6.2012 in Hamburg.