Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Runnin' Down a Dream (2007)

I absolutely love this documentary. I was told about it on the unfortunate day that Tom left us here on Earth. I've watched it several times and it has renewed my love for his/their music. I thought I was very familiar with most of their music and members but I was sadly mistaken. This was expertly put together by Peter Bogdnovich and it tells the story of the band from inception; essentially in a friends house, all the way through the early 2000's. It shows the band members as they changed, improved, and entertained millions of people worldwide. Tom was a phenomenal writer and the rest of the guys, including Tom, are world class musicians. I never had the privilege of seeing them live and I kick myself for not taking advantage of the times I could have. At close to 4 hours in length it left me hungering for more. What an amazing life they've had. It appears that these guys love working together and truly love each other. The title, "Runnin' down a dream" seems to accurately portray Tom's life because he didn't ever, "...Back Down". As a Hoosier teenager in the '70's, we needed a true rocker to answer to the onslaught of "Disco-mania" that was rolling through the country like an infectious plague. The Heartbreakers were a good solid solution. They became a big part of the soundtrack of our lives. Tom, you are missed by millions of adoring fans. Your impact on our lives will forever be felt in our love of all music. There are tons of other videos on the web but this is definitely on the top of my list.

Being a fan of Tom Petty I was naturally interested in this documentary. The thing that impressed me was how I lived all of this, listened, read, watched and yet didn't know so many details of the heights of success that Tom Petty and the band had reached. Even more interesting was the influences on him and that he has had on others in the industry. I've always been impressed with how the guy writes music that just keeps coming. In many ways like the Beatles albums, so many good songs, simple classic songs are on almost every album he works on with the heart-breakers, alone or in tandem with other artists. The adulation he receives from so many other stars like Stevie Nicks and George H. are just moving as to the dedication and talent he has. I just liked him before seeing this documentary, after I realize how ignorant I was of how good he truly is. Before I just liked so much of his music it was impressive, after I see that he has touched a lot more than me and just keeps on going. One of the few people I have seen on film where it seems like you could just walk up to him and shake his hand telling him how his music has touched your life and after all these years he would still truly appreciate the compliment and not just brush it off. Seems like a class guy and gotta love how he has effected the industry.

The best rock documentary ever! The archival footage of concerts and especially recording sessions is precious! Dylan, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, George Harrison, Roger McGuinn a pantheon of icons all interconnected to the story of TP! Peter Boganovich, did justice to the music and story by not editing this down to a theater friendly 90 minutes. The stories behind the songs were fascinating and I never realized or appreciated Tom's battles with the "industry". Like one of the interviewees commented, I too can remember where I was, what was going on in my life when a certain Tom Petty & Heartbreakers song was astaple of FM rock. 30 years; at the end I felt oh so old, wondering where did the time go?

...but a late innings entry to the film made it impossible. I realize Jim Ladd was the inspiration behind the title of Petty's pretty decent but still flawed The Last DJ concept album, but Ladd's hippie-drippy whining about Ronald Reagan's deregulation of the airwaves in the 80s not only offered erroneous information (gee, want the (un-)Fairness Doctrine reinstated Jimmy-boy?), but took up film-time that would have been better served discussing Petty's power-to-the-people embracing of the internet for music distribution and yet another battle with his record label over it. Allowing this victim-minded commentary into the movie totally plays opposite to the outstanding portrayal of Petty as a fighter, rebel and survivor throughout the rest of Running..., definitely not to any benefit, either.Otherwise, pheeee-flippin'-nomenal portrait of one of America's greatest rock bands. Extra props for including so much about Damn the Torpedoes and all the hell Petty went through in order to get it released. Second only to Hail! Hail! Rock and Roll for rock documentaries.