Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man (review)

How odd, that someone would make a documentary about Leonard Cohen with so little Leonard Cohen in it! The bulk of the film, alas, consists of footage from a 2005 Australian tribute concert featuring disappointing renditions of Cohen tunes from the likes of Nick Cave, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Rufus Wainwright, and others, and this is not made up for by the too-brief snippets of chat with Cohen about his life and work, which cut away just as they begin to offer tidbits of revelation about the inscrutable Canadian poet/musician with the voice like rough velvet. Cohen devotees will find it scattershot and annoyingly bland, while those seeking an introduction to the artistic phenomenon that is Cohen won’t find much of anything at all.

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