Word: jonahs
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...twice), and reflecting (countless times) with mellow but righteous indignation on the sorry state of the society that will not buy his bland music. The concentration of the camera and the script on Simon would be fine if he portrayed an interesting or at least three-dimensional character, but Jonah Levin is neither, and his colorless professional and domestic problems complement the monotonous musical score to make One-Trick Pony a very boring way to spend two hours...
...story of Jonah Levin unfolds on two levels, one of his career and the other of his marriage. An anti-war folk singer who had one big hit song in the '60s, he has since formed a band that tours small clubs and concert halls, playing a lyrical brand of soft rock similar to Paul Simon's more recent works. He yearns for and works to draw a larger following, but his devotion to his work, including weeks at a time spent on the road, has nearly destroyed his relationship with his wife and young son. The movie jumps back...
This sounds like the makings of an interesting movie, especially given the connections with Simon's real-life career, but in trying to weave together the dilemma of Jonah's private and professional lives, the movie touches superficially on many issues without clearly defining any of them. It becomes an amalgam of tension-filled scenes that often bear little relation to one another and that rarely reach any resolution...
TAKE, FOR EXAMPLE, the way the movie treats the conflict between Jonah's artistic integrity and his desire to make pop music charts. Jonah's view of his music, as interpreted by Simon, has none of the passionate devotion expected from an artist viewing his own work. When his first concert appearance in the movie is over, he receives a mediocre reception from a crowd that seconds later reacts riotously to the B-52s' performance of "Rock Lobster." The camera is positioned to show us the new wave group performing wildly onstage and Simon listening sulkily backstage, with the back...
What's more, for most of the movie Jonah comes across as such an even-tempered, passionless man that, as in this concert scene, we don't even know how he feels about the conflicts in his life. He seems to love his wife, but their confused separation, and his attempts to be more of a father to his son, look like Kramer vs. Kramer without the heart. The scene of father and young son shaving together is so old that it evokes more humor than emotion, yet Simon uses it, as if such banality could evoke even a sigh...