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Neil Young: Heart of Gold
Paramount Classics


9.2

based on 32 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 29 votes
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FILM:

MUSIC:

MPAA RATING: PG for some drug-related lyrics

Starring Emmylou Harris, Ben Keith, Neil Young, and Pegi Young

Neil Young: Heart of Gold is filmmaker Jonathan Demme's intimate musical portrait of legendary singer/songwriter Neil Young, filmed on the occasion of the world premiere of Young's "Prairie Wind" concert at Nashville's hallowed Ryman Auditorium. (Paramount Classics)

GENRE(S):	Documentary \| Musical
DIRECTED BY:	Jonathan Demme
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: June 13, 2006 Theatrical: February 10, 2006
RUNNING TIME:	103 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Variety Robert Koehler

The concert film has never looked or sounded classier than Jonathan Demme's superbly crafted Neil Young: Heart of Gold.

100

USA Today Claudia Puig

The mesmerizing, heart-tugging concert film Heart of Gold confirms Neil Young's stature as a national treasure.

100

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

It's hard to film icons like Young as anything BUT icons, but Demme's film gets past the legend, zooming in on Young's aged, heroic face and finding an artist as human as the rest of us.

100

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

At the film's intimate best, it gives a guitar's perspective of the troubadour. He plucks his instrument as he plays our heartstrings. It's movie and music bliss.

100

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

Heart of Gold feels like an ample slice of the real America, the one truly worth caring for. And it's such a rare thing in this benighted age that the simple clarity with which it's presented feels like nothing less than a miracle.

100

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

The result is a performance film that conjures a vision of American life as moving, funny and rueful as John Ford's Young Mr. Lincoln.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

All in all, a visual and musical feast.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

Jonathan Demme's superb film of Neil Young's 2005 performance at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium is as fervent a musical homage as was Demme's bubbly tribute to the Talking Heads, Stop Making Sense (1984).

Film Threat Jeremy Mathews

This immaculate filmmaking creates an engaging documentary that makes you forget that you're missing the energy of a live show because it's a completely cinematic experience with its own special energy.

New York Magazine David Edelstein

Demme is in such perfect sync with Young's music that even the painted prairie backdrop (and the painted farmhouse interior screen, complete with hearth, that slides in front of it) only makes you roll your eyes in retrospect.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

In one sense, Neil Young: Heart of Gold is just a simple concert film -- no cutaways during the music for interviews, no cameras swooping and soaring on giant booms. But simplicity in this case also means no barrier between us and the people on stage, as they sing some of the most soul-stirring pop songs I've seen performed in a very long time.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

It's the record of a life, a musical and spiritual autobiography, and as directed by Jonathan Demme it taps into the kind of unashamed, unsentimental emotion that's become increasingly rare in films of any kind.

Austin Chronicle Raoul Hernandez

In this sushi age of methamphetamine concert DVDs and dysfunction junction music tell-alls, Jonathan Demme dreams us back to the golden age of performance films.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

That film remains an electrifying testament to pop music as a communal creative act.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

Pretty-near pure gold.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

This is more than a movie, it's a privilege.

Premiere Ann Donahue

With its varied close-ups and wide shots of the performers and a series of interviews with several of the musicians as they prepare to perform, Heart of Gold is a traditional concert film. But a traditional concert film starring Neil Young brings a layer of emotion to the medium that's rarely seen.

TV Guide Ken Fox

A bracing cover of Ian Tyson's "Four Strong Winds," performed by no fewer than seven acoustic guitars, rounds out the set, but be sure to stick around for the credits.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Young, wizened yet valiant, his voice still braying at the moon, delivers these songs of aging and loss as if caught in a beautiful dream of what lies waiting for him on the other side.

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

At one point, during one of his occasional verbal rambles, he (Young) says half-jokingly, half-defensively that he's got some love songs left in him. This film, which is at once a valentine from one artist to another and a valentine from a musician to his audience, is surely proof that he does.

The Hollywood Reporter Duane Byrge

This smart, aesthetically understated concert film from Jonathan Demme will transport Young's legions of baby boomer fans back to the future, as 1969 re-invents itself in 2005 for Young.

The New Yorker David Denby

One might call Neil Young: Heart of Gold soothing, even becalmed, but mellowness and ripeness, when they exist at this high level of craft, should have their season, too.

Village Voice Tom Charity

Recaps and effectively mythologizes this nugget of modern folklore in brief interviews with Young and a band of old reliables, including Spooner Oldham, Grant Boatwright, and Ben Keith.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Given what Young charges for concert tickets, all his organs could be gold. So I was even more grateful for this documentary of his August 2005 shows at the fabled Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, expertly directed by Jonathan Demme.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Director Demme is smart and sensitive enough to sit back and listen to the music without attention-getting intrusions. The tunes are subtly compelling.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Kate Taylor

This remarkable concert film, beautifully shot by director Jonathan Demme over two days last summer, is all about legacy, a more-or-less conscious exercise in myth-making on the part of a musical giant facing his own mortality.

San Francisco Chronicle Joel Selvin

A snapshot of a fabled career that's of little interest to anyone outside Young's fans.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Dropping in amusing anecdotes and tender memories, a deeply reflective Young revisits - and often reinterprets - both his recent and classic work.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Heart of Gold is a sweet, gentle picture, if not a particularly exhilarating one.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Bill White

It works as a wistful coda to suggest that the song will go on long after the show is over.

Empire Ross Bennett

Shows the famed songwriter's performance and work off with reverance, and a faithfullness to the live experience.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

A schmaltzy filmed record of a Nashville concert given by the legendary former rocker, who has morphed into the new Kenny Rogers.

The average user rating for this movie is 9.2 (out of 10) based on 29 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Sambistagirl H. gave it a10:
This was a wonderful concert movie. I went to see it because I love Neil Young, but came out loving country music.

Roger W. gave it a10:
I've been a Neil Young fan since his Buffalo Springfield days and I suppose I must have every album he has ever made or been part of. I bought Prarie WInd about six months ago and it reminded me of Harvest and Harvest Moon only I thought it bette. I bought the DVD being already familiar with the CD and, honestly, I never expected to be surprised by the picture. The picture is a notch above the CD on many levels and in my opinion it perfectly captures the themes of the CD. I suppose some might call the picture overly romantic even schmaltzy. Sadly, there are many cynical people in the world. Whether the picture is as authentic as the director would have us believe is I think rather besides the point. I was not at the Ryman and cannot judge that point; what I can do is watch this picture and attempt to understand what Demme and Young hoped and wanted their live audience to experience...the romance of North American life. I came away from the picture with an even greater appreciation of Neil Young as a performer, musician, and lyricist: The man only gets better with time.

Gail K. gave it a10:
Back when I was in college, Neil Young was right up there with Bob Dylan, for me and my friends. For many years since, I've not followed his career until seeing this extraordinary film. I felt like I had been simultaneously snapped into 1970, but yet rooted in the here and now. Neil Young is a treasure, and this film will be an indelible example of just how valuable he is.

Hal B. gave it a9:
A real treat, especially if you're a Neil Young fan. But should appeal to anyone with a heart, with a family, with emotions. Demme's treatment of this concert at the legendary Ryman Auditorium is exceptional, and he and Neil have achieved what they were apparently setting out to do: create a wonderfully touching musical dream. The second half of the show in particular is a masterpiece!

Othostice gave it a9:
One has to wonder what terrors Lou Lumenick of the NYP suffered while coincidentally listening to a Neil Young song. His review is so out of whack with all the others, both professional and amateur.

Vera B. gave it a10:
neil young has always been a favorite entertainer of mine; but haven't really followed his career for a long time. as my friend, husband and i watched mezmerized, she said this feels like the closest i've been to church in a long time" although she goes every sunday with her young children. we all agreed that "it was all about the music" and i listen to certain cuts each night before going to bed. i want to buy it for my 89 year mother and everyone i love in between that age. the abrupt upstroke on the guitar on "the needle and the damage done" is an example of the thought, feeling and supberb craftsmanship of each song.

Sean G. gave it a10:
Well done movie. The music, the mix of new and old, is really good. It is nice to have the talking between songs that is clear and easy to understand. The song at the end, while the credit roll is a nice bonus.

Neil Young: Heart of Gold Paramount Classics

Neil Young: Heart of Gold
Paramount Classics