Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind is a 2022 archival documentary film about American singer-songwriter Jerry Lee Lewis directed by Ethan Coen and edited by Tricia Cooke.
Synopsis
The documentary combines pre-existing interviews with Lewis at different stages of his life and career with performance footage, and interviews with other people such as Myra Lewis Williams, his ex-wife and cousin, and country singer Mickey Gilley who was also his cousin.[1]
Production
Coen and Cooke were approached by T-Bone Burnett during the COVID-19 pandemic with the idea of making an archival documentary with a process that could be completed at home, which was appealing at a time of widespread isolation and withdrawal from public activities. Coen described the idea as "too compelling to turn down". Cooke described it as "like a home movie project."[2][3]
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 71% of 17 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.5/10.[4] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 62 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[5]
Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian said it was "thoroughly enjoyable" and that it "does something very few films can: it makes you grin with pleasure."[6] The Hollywood Reporter describes "a video mixtape chock-full of performances showing how even a man who rarely wrote his own songs could earn a place in the rock’n’roll pantheon. And that’s literally all it is.. Coen makes no effort to clear up the mythology [around Lewis]…Trouble in Mind may appeal mainly to roots-rock diehards and Coen Brothers super-completists".[7] Owen Gliebermann in Variety acknowledges Coen "uses almost nothing but old performance and TV-interview clips" but that he "combines them artfully, syncing them to his own pleasure centers—and ours."[8]
Release
The film was shown at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival on May 22, 2022.[9] The film had an official public release on Prime Video in the United States on February 14, 2024.
See also
- Great Balls of Fire! – 1989 biopic about Jerry Lee Lewis
References
- ^ "'Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble In Mind': Cannes Review". Screendaily.com.
- ^ "Ethan Coen on his Jerry Lee Lewis doc and filmmaking return". APNews.com. 21 May 2022.
- ^ "Ethan Coen Speaks On Reasons For Hiatus From Filmmaking & Return With Cannes Doc 'Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind'". Deadline.com. 21 May 2022.
- ^ "Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
- ^ "Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
- ^ Bradshaw, Peter (22 May 2022). "Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind review – Ethan Coen's amazing tribute to the Killer". The Guardian.
- ^ "Ethan Coen's 'Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind': Film Review". Hollywood Reporter. 23 May 2022.
- ^ "Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble in Mind' Review: Ethan Coen's First Solo Outing Spotlights Lewis's Timelessly Wild Rock 'n' Roll Joy". Variety.com. 22 May 2022.
- ^ "Cannes Review: Ethan Coen's 'Jerry Lee Lewis: Trouble In Mind'". Desdline.com. 22 May 2022.
