We're not sure what moved Kiefer Sutherland to act as a kind of tour organizer for Rocco DeLuca and his Burden, even helping to carry their stage equipment while they give one show per country in this strange tour documentary. Kiefer wasn't sure about that himself it seems, because he cannot answer director Manu Boyers question why he let him film his evenings and parties with the band, and tries to give an answer towards the end of the film which hasn't got a lot to do with his tour manager assignment.
Maybe it was his loneliness and the tour was a welcome opportunity to flee from empty Christmas and new years eve-holidays? We watch Kiefer more or less getting drunk every evening, or at least we can infer that if not directly by seeing him jump into an Icelandic Christmas tree by watching him in the morning crawling out of his hotel room, always struggling to get a hold of his stuff (during a few days he loses his phone, his wallet and seemingly every other kind of things, for example by way of carrying ten things at a time into the hotel lobby obviously for want of enough bags). A "24"-crew member says about him in advance: "If you know Kiefer well - organization is not his middle name." Which very obviously is true and makes him somewhat a miscast for the job - but not less likable.
The surprising thing is that Kiefer always stays calm, polite and friendly while Boyer films him during these more or less embarrassing scenes. All in all it seems he takes his manager assignment very seriously - and also his film assignment, derived from that - and he definitely is able to promote the group, even in a quasi-non-organized way.
Sutherland looks for a kind of deeper meaning in what he's doing - and even gets himself an Icelandic tattoo, while the bands purpose is pretty clear to every one - but in the end of the day I can't help also to see a drinker masquerading consequences of his addiction - which are gossip stories in next days papers, an injured arm, the lost belongings among other things - and reproaching himself.
Still it is interesting to watch him, definitely so when you're a fan. There are similarities between him and his musical front man with respect to childhood memories as they are told, only that one treats them with anger (Rocco), the other with a smile out of the anguish. As for the band: their depressive blues style seems to fit Kiefers inner state perfectly, and also Roccos. The music is a mixture of Jeff Buckley and traditional Americana, rock and blues roots music, together with a Placebo-like "passive aggressiveness" that makes it hard to listen to it at times if you're not exactly in the blue mood. Rocco is very skilled, no doubt, but it seems the audiences in the clubs they play don't quite fit the music: they're too adult. A younger crowd, maybe around the bands own age and not their tour managers, might immerse better into this kind of music. But something maybe went a little wrong with the booking of places. Of course we never hear discussions about these matters, we only see locations, equipment, hotels, airports, driving, partying after the gig, and vague statements on nothing in particular by Kiefer while the band doesn't add much to the film apart from their music - which is the main thing of course they can and should add.
Maybe it was his loneliness and the tour was a welcome opportunity to flee from empty Christmas and new years eve-holidays? We watch Kiefer more or less getting drunk every evening, or at least we can infer that if not directly by seeing him jump into an Icelandic Christmas tree by watching him in the morning crawling out of his hotel room, always struggling to get a hold of his stuff (during a few days he loses his phone, his wallet and seemingly every other kind of things, for example by way of carrying ten things at a time into the hotel lobby obviously for want of enough bags). A "24"-crew member says about him in advance: "If you know Kiefer well - organization is not his middle name." Which very obviously is true and makes him somewhat a miscast for the job - but not less likable.
The surprising thing is that Kiefer always stays calm, polite and friendly while Boyer films him during these more or less embarrassing scenes. All in all it seems he takes his manager assignment very seriously - and also his film assignment, derived from that - and he definitely is able to promote the group, even in a quasi-non-organized way.
Sutherland looks for a kind of deeper meaning in what he's doing - and even gets himself an Icelandic tattoo, while the bands purpose is pretty clear to every one - but in the end of the day I can't help also to see a drinker masquerading consequences of his addiction - which are gossip stories in next days papers, an injured arm, the lost belongings among other things - and reproaching himself.
Still it is interesting to watch him, definitely so when you're a fan. There are similarities between him and his musical front man with respect to childhood memories as they are told, only that one treats them with anger (Rocco), the other with a smile out of the anguish. As for the band: their depressive blues style seems to fit Kiefers inner state perfectly, and also Roccos. The music is a mixture of Jeff Buckley and traditional Americana, rock and blues roots music, together with a Placebo-like "passive aggressiveness" that makes it hard to listen to it at times if you're not exactly in the blue mood. Rocco is very skilled, no doubt, but it seems the audiences in the clubs they play don't quite fit the music: they're too adult. A younger crowd, maybe around the bands own age and not their tour managers, might immerse better into this kind of music. But something maybe went a little wrong with the booking of places. Of course we never hear discussions about these matters, we only see locations, equipment, hotels, airports, driving, partying after the gig, and vague statements on nothing in particular by Kiefer while the band doesn't add much to the film apart from their music - which is the main thing of course they can and should add.
