Reviews

I can honestly say that I'm not an avid Pearl Jam fan. Yes, I owned "TEN" when I was a kid in 6th grade, and songs such as "Betterman" and "Immortality" always make it to my iPod, but I was never a traditional fan as I am of other bands such as The Cure.

I am, however, a huge fan of documentaries. Especially those that bring to surface the deep rooted emotions and thoughts as expressed by the subjects interviewed without the facade of flashy lights and glitter. Which is why I love documentaries by Errol Morris, the Maysles brothers, and Hubert Sauper. (that is also why I despise Moore, Herzog, and Spurlock.... too much glitter.) But Crowe manages to balance the depth of the interviews and story, if you will, with entertainment. At the end of the documentary I wanted more. I felt it was too short. Plus, it helped one appreciate the artistic value of Pearl Jam. So much so, that later that day I ended up logging into iTunes and purchasing Pearl Jam's greatest hits album. It's been playing on my iPod ever since.

This documentary made Pearl Jam what they have always been..... human. It was moving when Eddie Veddar expressed how he feels to this day when he sings "Black", and so on. It takes these renown Rock stars and places them in your living room as the type of people you can hang-out with and talk about history and music for a couple of hours..... it was a fantastic documentary, and I recommend it to anyone. Even if you are not a fan of Pearl Jam...

I first heard of this film on NPR, and I was intrigued based on the sole the fact that it's a documentary. (I'm a huge fan of documentaries.) Then I found out that it was playing on PBS and I got to watch it.

This film is by far the most captivating film I have ever seen. The director(s) did a wonderful job of letting the story tell itself, and I appreciated the fact that they gave minimal commentary and just let the camera role. Sort of the "fly on the wall" perspective. They also did an amazing job in integrating the human element into the film as by the end of the film I felt I had a direct connection with every character in the film. I felt I was there with all of the children as they battled with cancer, and I felt for the families having to go through the battle that cancer is. It helped me deal with a lot of the pain I locked up inside when my family went through the same ordeal over ten years ago with my young cousin and later with my uncle. It was by far the most difficult film I have ever watched.

Prior to watching the film I would often get into these meaningless debates about whatever on the IMDb message board as well as other "blog" sites, but after watching this film it made all of that seem trivial and thus a waste of time. The film forced me to get my priorities straight, and my respect for what the doctors, nurses, and volunteers do at the average Children's Hospital has increased five-fold.

I believe everyone should watch this film because it brings a sense of reality. Sometimes we become too comfortable with our lives and forget about everyone else. It's a true reality check, and that's exactly what a documentary should always be.