The saga of the duelling Jeff Buckley biopics just took another turn. While writer / director Daniel Algrant and co-writers David Brendel and Emma Sheanshang didn’t have the official backing card to play, they have been able to finish Greetings From Tim Buckley first, and premiered successfully at the Toronto Film Festival this year. The trailer has now arrived and you can watch that above.
Greetings finds Gossip Girl’s Penn Badgley looking to stretch the ol’ acting muscles a little as Jeff, a musician growing up in the very long shadow of his father’s talent and legacy.
Disaffected, depressed and sour at the idea, Buckley nevertheless agrees to play at a tribute concert for Tim, the father he never really knew and who everyone else adores. The experience changes his life, along with falling for Allie (Imogen Poots). In the process, his own career is born.
From the looks of this, Badgley has pulled off a decent performance; not an impersonation of Buckley per se, but more channelling him. The official Buckley biopic is still in the starting gate, with the latest news being that** West Of Memphis** director Amy Berg is now in the big chair, taking over from Jake Scott and that there’s likely to be a change in the lead (Reeve Carney had been attrached), though all that is still up in the air.
Greetings From Tim Buckley doesn’t yet have a release date here or in the US, but the positive buzz from the festival screenings should help change that soon.