Independent’s day
>> I Am Trying to Break Your Heart chronicles the saga of the critical darlings Wilco

by MARK SLUTSKY

The mini-saga behind the Wilco album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot has been the big indie rock story this year. If you’re familiar with the band at all, you’ve probably read the tale of the album’s making and near-unmaking at least a dozen times already.

If you haven’t though, here it is in a nutshell: Wilco records, amid some intra-band strife, what many agree is their best album, which is promptly rejected by their label, Reprise, for not being commercial enough. Wilco leaves the label, finds a new one, and releases the album to much critical acclaim and modest commercial success. That’s about it—a fairly interesting story of big-label dunderheadedness and indie triumph.

Now there’s a film version to bask in. Directed by photographer Sam Jones, I Am Trying to Break Your Heart (named after the album’s opening song), chronicles the tale in heroic black and white. Originally conceived of as a behind-the-scenes look at the album’s recording, the film grew to encompass the various goings-on with the label and the record’s eventual success.

If you’re averse to somewhat pompous mythologizing, you should probably stay away from this movie. Jones treats band members—especially frontman Jeff Tweedy—with the tiring reverence that probably should be reserved for Nobel laureates. We don’t need to be reminded of Tweedy’s genius every five minutes—even he seems to be uncomfortable with it.

For fans of the band, there’s some stuff to appreciate here, like seeing them recording the album, trying out different versions of the songs and working out the production nitty-gritty. And there are a couple of solid moments: a scene of grinning, awkward fans talking to Tweedy after a show is morbidly fascinating in its own way.

Truth is, though, there’s not that much to this movie. Even the conflict with the label seems like the depressingly typical major label runaround—and Wilco eventually signs with Nonesuch, a label which, like Reprise, is owned by AOL/Time-Warner. So what’s the big deal already? I Am Trying to Break Your Heart should come with a warning label: For Wilco Fans Only. :

I Am Trying to Break Your Heart opens Friday, Sept. 27 at Cinéma du Parc

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