Neil Young Photo

Neil Young: Heart of Gold

Starring: Grant Boatwright, Larry Cragg, Anthony Crawford, Chad Cromwell, Diana DeWitt

Directed by: Jonathan Demme

RS: 4of 4 Stars

2006

On a full-moon night in August 2005, shortly after undergoing surgery for a brain aneurysm and two months after the death of his father, Neil Young stepped onto the stage of Nashville's Ryman Auditorium (former home of the Grand Ole Opry) for the live debut of songs from his album Prairie Wind. Director Jonathan Demme doesn't aim for the kinetic energy of his 1984 Talking Heads film, Stop Making Sense, nor does Young go for the barnburning blitzkrieg of his own 1979 concert classic, Rust Never Sleeps. Instead, Young -- in a natty Western suit, eyes twinkling beneath his riverboat-gambler hat -- infuses both the new tunes and classics like "Old Man" with a pastoral glow. In "When God Made Me," Young addresses his mortality with fearless, full-throated acceptance. When introducing "This Old Guitar" -- sung as a duet with the clearly thrilled Emmylou Harris -- Young holds up his acoustic and explains that it originally belonged to Hank Williams and is now back at the Ryman for the first time since Hank was ousted from the Opry in 1952. Musically rich, visually rapturous and historically resonant, Heart of Gold is its own unique, hearth-warmed piece of Young's living legend.