by CHRIS BARRY

Seriously, when placed among the grand scheme of things, how wrong can you go with an undeniable talent like Neil Young? Actually, um, wait a minute, not so fast there, maybe a quick listen to a few of Young’s less successful experiments, like, say, 1983’s Trans, is in order before jumping to answer that question. As is the case with many truly great artists, there’s a lot of hit-or-miss involved when it comes to Young’s considerable musical legacy. For every flash of brilliance like “Needle and the Damage Done” there’s at least one “Kinda Fonda Wanda”—or worse. But fair enough, I for one am more than prepared to forgive Young’s artistic failures if it means the guy keeps feeling free to experiment and pop out the occasional brilliant track or record all these many years into the game. Regardless of whether he hits or misses, it’s hard to deny the honesty inherent to Young’s work, and that, in itself, is worth the price of admission when it comes to an artist of his calibre.

Which brings us to Neil Young: Heart of Gold, Jonathan Demme’s superb film documenting two performances Young gave at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium in 2005, just days before the 60-year-old hippie troubadour was set to undergo potentially crippling brain surgery. If you like Neil Young, then it’s easy, you’re gonna like this concert film. There’s not much more to it than that. Everything that makes Young great is in abundance here and Demme’s understated and tasteful depiction of the event is perfectly suited to the melancholic nature of the material Young chose to perform on these two nights—a hodgepodge of “classics” like “Old Man” and “I Am A Child” interspersed with primarily excellent material from his recent Prairie Wind CD. This is a beautiful, touching movie, as much about the mid-life experience as it is a simple performance film. When Young hits his mark, as he does here, you simply can’t go wrong. Uh, assuming you like Neil Young, that is.

NEIL YOUNG: HEART OF GOLD OPENS FRIDAY, FEB. 24

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