The problems with "Greetings From Tim Buckley" begin with the title. The film isn't really about 1960-70s singer-songwriter Tim Buckley — who died from an overdose in 1975 — so much as his son, Jeff, who produced a single hit album in 1994, "Grace," before drowning in the Mississippi River a few years later.
The film takes its name from a tribute concert to Tim Buckley, held in St. Ann's Church in New York City in 1991. Jeff, as of yet undiscovered as a singer and working as a session guitarist, was asked to perform and, despite some reservations, his climactic appearance at the show launched his star status.
Director Daniel Algrant's film follows Jeff (Penn Badgley of "Gossip Girl") in the days leading up to the show, with the emphasis put on his "reservations." Tim had left Jeff's mother while she was pregnant, which we see in flashback — with Ben Rosenfield playing a groupie-addicted Tim — and Jeff grew up barely knowing his father or his music. Hence the resentment at being constantly compared to Tim when he arrives in New York City, with no one interested in hearing his own material.
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