Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man Reviews

Produced by longtime Leonard Cohen fan Mel Gibson, Lian Lunson's adoring documentary about the legendary Canadian singer is mostly a concert film, shot in January 2005 at the Sydney Opera House during a specially organized tribute concert titled "Came So Far for Beauty." Lunson intercuts interviews with the ordinarily very private Cohen — still dashing and impeccably dressed at 72 — and those whom he's inspired, including Bono, Nick Cave and Rufus Wainwright, but what emerges is less a portrait than a testament to the influence he's exerted over his 40-year career. The accolades are typically gushing — Bono likens Cohen to Byron and Shelley, while Cave says listening to Cohen as a teenager made him feel like the coolest guy in Warracknabeal, Australia. But the music speaks the loudest. Aside from Cave's annoyingly paced treatment of "Suzanne," there's not a bum moment: Antony's rendition of "If It Be Your Will" is a gut-wrencher, while Beth Orton's take on "Sisters of Mercy" is filled with a fragile grace. The fact that many of the performers are mothers, sons and daughters only attests to Cohen's intergenerational appeal: The Wainwrights are out in full force — Rufus performs no fewer than three of Cohen's songs, including a cha-cha-inflected "Everybody Knows" and a collaboration with his sister Martha on "Hallelujah," while their mother, Kate McGarrigle, and aunt Anna do a lovely "Winter Lady." Linda Thompson duets beautifully with the Handsome Family; her son Teddy Thompson's rendition of "Tonight Will Be Fine" is unforgettable. But what this entertaining documentary inadvertently makes clear when Cohen himself appears off stage to perform "Tower Song" in front of a pretty decent backup band (U2), is that no matter how inspired the singers who've helped bring his material to a wider audience (Judy Collins, Jennifer Warnes, Jeff Buckley), no matter how much unique artistry they bring to their interpretations, something essential is lost when anyone other than Cohen is at the mike. That something lies deep within Cohen's voice, which over the years has aged into a deep, sardonic growl that adds layers of irony, cynicism and profound amusement to a lyric that might otherwise seem sentimental. That ineffable something is what marks him as a true, unrivaled original.