Candy Mountain Reviews

Failed rock 'n' roll musician Julius Book (Kevin J. O'Connor) embarks on a mission to find guitar-maker Elmore Silk (Harris Yulin), a legendary craftsman who, 20 years before, at the height of his fame, dropped out of sight. Elmore's guitars are now worth $20,000 apiece, and Julius is hired by some music-industry big shots to find him. Desperately looking for a way to carve out a career for himself in the music business, Julius, who has never even heard of Elmore, takes the job and learns the hard way that "life ain't no candy mountain." The product of a reportedly uneasy collaboration between photographer and filmmaker Robert Frank (PULL MY DAISY) and screenwriter Rudy Wurlitzer (TWO LANE BLACKTOP, WALKER), CANDY MOUNTAIN is an excellent road movie detailing the enlightenment of a callow young musician who mistakenly believes that simply pulling off a scam will somehow make him a successful artist. Filled with beautiful imagery, poetic dialogue, sly humor, savvy cameos, and excellent music, the film travels straight north from New York City to "the last town on the last street in North America." O'Connor is superb as the would-be rock star whose romantic notions persist despite the fact that he is an empty vessel with absolutely nothing to say, and this odd, offbeat film richly deserves the audience it failed to find during its theatrical run.