SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Spoonixel Amateur movie with Big budget

Cleveronix A different way of telling a story

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

doug1717 The man was a fraud and a thief.He stole the music and complete style of Guthrie and sold it as his own. Then another thief and fraud, Dylan, came along and did the same to Ramblin' Jack.Many consider them icons, but they made their bones off of a dying man.Jack was literally full of sh*t. For a supposed trucker, he couldn't even back up his own RV.When asked what he preferred; a truck, a plane, a ship or a skateboard, he should have said "a horse", but then he was never a cowboy, though he dressed up like one and was a lifelong baby soft handed cowboy groupie.He claimed to work on a clipper ship and be a big time sailor, but others had to do his work for him.He was a fraud, a clown. He just did his Guthrie imitation and relied on his imaginary rambling b.s. stories to pay for his supper. He could pick the guitar well. But as a man, he was less than dirt.He was an ultimate user.What a douche!

ssim766687 I eagerly started to read the review of Sumland from San Francisco regarding this film and was was turned off two thirds of the way by his biased rambling and criticisms of Elliot's daughter Aiyana...Sumland seems to think women should just "put up and shut up" regarding the actions of emotionally immature fathers and husbands who may be charming performer and musicans but lousy family members...Women don't have enough assertiveness , ego, and self esteem to begin with regarding relationships, they are expected to carry all the responsibility for relationships and then are blamed when they fail...Hooray for Aiyana for her candor , honesty, maturity and sensitivity regarding her father...Too bad people like Sumland cant handle the truth and would rather have women sugarcoat the reality of their experiences that excuses poor parenting and spousal behavior...."If women all told the truth of their experiences, the world would split open"...Audra Lourde

austex23 Ramblin' Jack's story is in many ways the story of American music in the 20th Century, and this documentary tells that story with vitality from the unique perspective of a daughter trying to come to terms with her father's family-excluding career. As such, it may be a tad too ambitious, but the result is certainly entertaining and as personal and powerful a picture of an artist as I can remember seeing. Largely without pretension and careful to get a variety of perspectives, the film provides a faceted view of an evasive subject. The historic documents - a shot of young Zimmerman in the crowd at a Ramblin' Jack show, rare film of roots artists, home movies - are just amazing, and the interviews with the Guthrie clan and other survivors of the 50s folkie era are illuminating. The film's secondary story - the daughter's quest for understanding of her dad - may not be everyone's cup of coffee, but it worked for me, putting a human frame around an epic life.Mostly, the film awakened for me that sense of endless possibility in mid-20th Century America, before the mass packaging of culture crushed so much of the country's promise. Folk was a musical movement born in backwaters and the public squares of melting pot cities, of the fusion of cultures - black and rural, diverse and rich as the world - into the raw stuff of entertainment. Jack's life echoes Kerouac and the Beats in his quest for experience, and his role as Woody Guthrie's heir-designate puts him square in the heart of American radical politics, though those politics largely seem to have evaded Jack's attention. Jack's identification and fascination with cowboy music establishes a link to American myth and the dreams of a decade that yearned for the freedom of boundless frontiers while established powers did their best to suppress cultural deviance. Jack's life, his persistence today, and the small but vital subculture of his heirs - guys like Tom Russell and Steve Earle - attest to the ornery survival of essential difference in a world that punishes nonconformity

kid-17 The BORJ is a revealing and well told of story of the great Jack Elliott. Jack, a folk/country legend, is a hard one to figure out. The documentary takes you on a tour throughout his life, from his childhood up until the very present. His daughter (who directed this feature) has Jack, family and friends tell his story.The film allows you to judge for yourself what kind of man he really was. A musician, a cowboy, hard traveller and a father. The documentary will help you understand and appreciate his place in music. As a companion to Woody Guthrie to his influence on Bob Dylan.What's nice is nothing is pushed in your face. The viewer is left to reason out for themselves why he distances himself from his family and friends. Although, it's never clear what makes him click as a person or a father you can't help but want to know why.It's a well done film that will have you asking questions and leave you wondering about Jack. I came out of the theater a bit sad but appreciative that there are people in the world like Ramblin' Jack Elliott.