The emergence of Elliott Smith from the cacophony of mid-’90s Northwest punk was unlike any other music success story, except in the sense that, in the end, it was exactly like every music success story.
The same can be said of this documentary, which benefits from the filmmakers’ obvious affection for his subject and access to a lot of Smith’s actual friends and collaborators (many of whom make an admirable habit of not participating too promiscuously in the Elliott Smith industry). The most important asset, of course, is the impossible bounty of Smith’s songs on the soundtrack.
But all these good elements also conspire in a strange way to diminish the film—the same way an Elliott Smith song on pretty much any speaker seems to shame any song that precedes or follows it…
