I don’t know if I ever watched a movie that was simply based on a song, that is until now. But, I had the pleasure of watching an indie film called Hard Luck Love Song which is based on a Todd Snyder song called Just Like Old Times. It’s about a troubadour down on his luck who stumbles back into the life of the girl he’s always loved. Sounds like a country song, doesn’t it? However, the title of the movie is perfect for this kind of love affair, and I think it’s true of all people where you find that one great love and somehow you just stumble back into their lives time and time again. Maybe you can never truly be together except for short periods of time, but you always find your way back to each other. And maybe the only way you can perfectly explain that kind of story is through music. At first, I thought it was just some typical love story about finding the girl that got away, but I was wrong and all the happy for it. This movie is so much more than just a love story, but about two lost souls trying to find each other again and a world where life never truly worked out the way they thought, but they’re one constant is always finding each other.

The story is about Jesse and Carla. Two sweethearts who grew up with each other and have been through hard times together. And never seems to truly work out for them, but they always find each other. He wants to be a musician living the life of a troubadour through the music he creates that he wishes was bigger than him and the legend he seems to make for himself. But he’s really more of a pool Hustler just getting by from one dingy motel to the next. She’s a bartender and a part-time sex worker just trying to make ends meet. Their life is wrapped up in all of the good times they once had and keep trying to have, while somehow trying to make it work for good. What I really love about this movie is the music itself. I feel like the music is the main character and their lives are seen through the music or at least the music makes their lives seem more perfect than they really are. It almost feels like you are watching a music video that’s more poetic and true about how life really is. It’s a mixed bag of a good narrative and a music video, almost dreamlike if you will, but that’s how it’s supposed to be. This is what makes the story better. This movie can seem familiar if you have ever lived in the darker underbelly of American society while trying to make ends meet. But what truly drives this movie is the performances, especially that of Michael Dorman and Sophia Bush, the two leads that show off perfect chemistry on the screen. The best parts of this movie are their scenes together as they struggle with the good and the bad of their relationship well finding that raw honesty with each other that only Lovers can have. The music they make together ads another layer to the greatness of the film and then you throw in the pool hustling theme that will take you right back to the movie The Hustler and The Color of Money. These characters love, they fight, they make music, and they save each other in more ways than one. That’s the beautiful side of this film.

I don’t really have too many critiques. I feel like the pacing is very good, and this movie is told in a perfect amount of time. But as much as we connect to these two main characters, I feel like we’re always wanting more. We want to know more about them and their history, it’s natural. Their story is great, but I kind of wish for flashbacks to see how they arrived at this point in their lives. We get just enough to keep us curious through their conversations and the memories they share, but it’s not as fulfilling because we don’t get to see everything we should want from these two characters. Since the film is set over a couple of nights, we only really get a glimpse of who they are and that’s annoying. Perhaps all we really need to know is who these characters are within the time frame of the film, but these two characters are too interesting and feel all too familiar,  like we went to high school with them, we would know who they are if we ran into them at a gas station or a Walmart. I just feel like the film makes us want to know more about them,  especially when he tells her (SPOILERS AHEAD) about his prison stint and she tells him how she became a sex worker. But like great poetry, this story is perfect within the time that it’s being told, maybe knowing too much would ruin our connection to the characters. However, despite all that, I do honestly praise all of the performances from the main characters to RZA to Dermot Mulroney as the other pool Hustler or Eric Roberts has the older suitor that we seem to know. It’s like we’ve met that guy before some dingy bar that we’ve drunk at. It’s not a perfect film and my critiques are only minor.

It’s a wonderful film that film aficionados should see. If you are a music nut, especially that of country and folk and Americana then this is the perfect film for you because the music is outstanding. But like I said before, it’s the performance is that truly makes this film and Michael Dorman and Sophia Bush knock it out of the park. Not a typical love story, but one that I’m sure we are all familiar with. That’s this film’s true connection to an audience, we all know these characters and we’ve all probably lived these lives in some way. So, if a film can connect to us as an audience through its familiarity, then that’s a good thing. It may not be a film you watch over and over, but it’s a film that will connect to you through the characters that seem familiar and the music that you just can’t help but love. While I feel this movie can very much be an Austin Texas story, really, it’s the story that can connect to any town that has a great music scene. I Definitely recommend watching Hard Luck Love Story… You will not be disappointed!