Musicians and movies don't always go together well. Some of the most painful movies to watch are those that are clearly made to generate a hit single, with a loose plot to string together performances. But Paul Simon's largely forgotten 1980 film One-Trick Pony is different. Simon didn't need a movie to make a hit single and he actually had a point to make that required use of the visual medium.
One-Trick Pony stars Simon as Jonah Levin, a guy who had a folk hit at the height of the Vietnam era in 1967. Since going electric, he hasn't had a hit, but he continues touring constantly with his loyal band and keeps writing new material. But he's finally reached the bottom, just as his wife decides to finally get a divorce. When an opportunity comes up to record a new album, Jonah ultimately struggles to fit in the new world of AM Top 40 radio. He has to decide between his integrity and the fact that he needs money.
Simon worked on as many fronts for the movie as possible, but he didn't direct. Instead, Simon and producers Michael Tannen and Michael Hausman went with Robert M. Young, who had won acclaim for his first feature, 1977's Alambrista!. Young doesn't try to sugar-coat road life for musicians, instead going for a cinema verite style. There's nothing glamorous about the world of One-Trick Pony, so when Jonah tries to fit in with music executives, he sticks out. He just doesn't belong in that world and never did.
That's really what makes One-Trick Pony feel genuinely different from movies with rock stars in them. By taking control of the project, Simon ensured that it didn't turn into some silly, two-hour commercial for his latest record. The points he makes in his script are valid and are still faced by the record industry. Musicians get into the business to make music, but once they do it, they have to put their integrity on the line. “Dignity, always dignity,” as Don Lockwood would say in Singin' In The Rain. It's a great idea, but when your life is on the line, you have to take what you can get.
If there's one reason why One-Trick Pony hasn't really stood out 35 years after it was made, it's that Simon just can't act. Sure, it's hard to see how he could have let anyone else play Jonah, but anyone could have been better than him in some of the film's more dramatic moments. Even his band – particularly keyboardist Richard Tee – seem more relaxed and believable in front of the camera. Perhaps Simon put too much pressure on himself to perform well, but the fact is he was no actor. His scenes with Jonah's son are particularly heartwarming, but you can see him struggle to keep up with Rip Torn and Blair Brown.
That said, some of the film's musical sequences are enjoyable and well-filmed. Young doesn't try any pretentious camera moves, just capturing Simon and his band at their best. It's also to the film's benefit that none of the songs from the film or One-Trick Pony's album never became super hits. “Late In The Evening,” played over the film's credits, was a moderately successful single, but nothing like “My Little Town” or “Kodachrome.” The rest of the songs, while all very good – especially the funky “Ace In The Hole” and the title track – would only be known to die-hard Simon fans. Therefore, that element gives the film an added authenticity that Simon probably never intended.
One-Trick Pony isn't some hidden great movie that you've never heard of, but it's definitely one worth checking out for anyone interested in the music business. Obviously, it's a bit weird to see, since even by 1980, Simon was already an entrenched music legend. It works like a “what if,” showing possibly what might have happened if Simon & Garfunkel never had another hit single after “The Sound of Silence.” Thankfully, that never became a reality, but it gave Simon a chance to be thankful that he never had to do sleazy '60s music tributes.
In the end, One-Trick Pony is a movie about music that only a musician could make. Simon knew how the bottom could look for a musician. He and Young presented it without pretension and a little bit of humor.
On Home Video: One-Trick Pony was unavailable on DVD for years, but it finally surfaced from the Warner Archive in 2010. The DVD looks like it was ripped from a laserdisc or VHS, unfortunately, with the titles blocky and rough edges throughout the film. This one should have been remastered.
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