Saw this at the premiere/National concert at the Shrine in LA on Tuesday 3/25/2014. This is the story of Matt Berninger, lead singer of the National's younger brother (by 9 years) Tom attempting (and succeeding) to make a documentary of the band on tour. It mostly plays out as a story of brotherly love & jealousy, but always with a good-natured and humorous bent. Tom is a goofy kid-stuck-in-a-man's-body who has a history of quitting things before he's finished them, and Matt seems determined to see him finish this project, even if it means risking the public perception of his band. The audience was in uproarious laughter throughout the whole thing, and everyone seemed surprised at what a genuine portrait it was of not only the band, but of how a regular family's dynamics change when one member is throw into the spotlight. Highly recommended.
12 Reviews
Terribly made beauty
TerryOPants28 April 2014
Music docs have a checkered history. Dig! might be the best of the recent bunch, but nobody came out of that looking good, lest of all the people it was intended promote. Spinal Tap and A Mighty Wind were at once far too farcical and far too realistic, and really the whole "rockumentary" genre wasn't left with much wiggle room.
This isn't a rockumentary. It certainly doesn't provide much of an insight into the National, although there are the odd interview with the lesser members who look, more often than not, drunk or confused or bored. No, this is about the Berninger boys. It's a study of how an overweight college dropout copes in the presence of his universally adored, alpha-male brother. It's very hard not to come out on Tom's side. Matt is aloof, pretentious and very egotistical (although at times he shows immense sensitivity to his brother's latent depression). Tom wants what Matt has. And this film is his personal journey into that. There's a deeply psychoanalytical element to this, which, intended or no, places it above say, Standing in the Shadows of Motown or Dig, which are straight up music profiles.
Two scenes stand out for me. One, a drunken conversation between Tom and Matt's wife, both of whom are drunk. She knows that in most battles the alpha male wins. Look who she picked. The second, when Tom screws up and leaves Werner Herzog locked outside an LA gig.
This film is terribly made; the director himself admits this. But in the end, for some reason, he's produced a profoundly moving portrayal of two brothers, and a world in which alpha males win. Fans of the National will be relieved to know that their favourites come across as nothing worse than somewhat humourless - a far cry from The Brian Jonestown Massacre. But fans of the National will appreciate the depressive undertones which are beautifully and subtly brought to the foreground.
This isn't a rockumentary. It certainly doesn't provide much of an insight into the National, although there are the odd interview with the lesser members who look, more often than not, drunk or confused or bored. No, this is about the Berninger boys. It's a study of how an overweight college dropout copes in the presence of his universally adored, alpha-male brother. It's very hard not to come out on Tom's side. Matt is aloof, pretentious and very egotistical (although at times he shows immense sensitivity to his brother's latent depression). Tom wants what Matt has. And this film is his personal journey into that. There's a deeply psychoanalytical element to this, which, intended or no, places it above say, Standing in the Shadows of Motown or Dig, which are straight up music profiles.
Two scenes stand out for me. One, a drunken conversation between Tom and Matt's wife, both of whom are drunk. She knows that in most battles the alpha male wins. Look who she picked. The second, when Tom screws up and leaves Werner Herzog locked outside an LA gig.
This film is terribly made; the director himself admits this. But in the end, for some reason, he's produced a profoundly moving portrayal of two brothers, and a world in which alpha males win. Fans of the National will be relieved to know that their favourites come across as nothing worse than somewhat humourless - a far cry from The Brian Jonestown Massacre. But fans of the National will appreciate the depressive undertones which are beautifully and subtly brought to the foreground.
Excellent....
fordtim7626 May 2014
Pretty awesome documentary overall. I really didn't expect it to be any good and was pleasantly surprised. As well, I had never heard of this band before, not necessarily my type of music but I liked what I heard. Tom is a guy we all know, maybe a guy we are all at times. A likable fellow that can to no awareness of his own, ruffle feathers and mess things up even though his heart is in the right place. The dynamic of this film captured how we can all feel insignificant despite our efforts. Tom you are talented and you showed it with this documentary for sure.
Def worth a watch.
Def worth a watch.
A really cool film let down by a few flaws
augustwilder2 January 2017
This is a pretty great film and as a fan of the national I'd been waiting to watch it for ages and it nearly pulls it off. It's funny affecting and obviously the tunes are great, the one thing that let it down slightly for me was the slightly 'scripted documentary' feeling I got in a few places, where you'd questions the veracity of what's happening and why there's a bunch of other camera people shooting a seemingly intimate set up. However, maybe this is being slightly pedantic. At the heart of the film it's a story about two brothers and their relationship and a very universal tale that I certainly related to, I found myself cringing and laughing in equal amounts. Overall well worth checking out.
Hilarious Documentary
I_actually_am_sam26 August 2014
Wow, this was not what I expected. I haven't laughed this hard at a documentary since Michael Moore stopped doing them. Briefly, it's loosely based on Matt Berninger's brother Tom's attempts to make a movie about the band.
I have to admit, I had to suppress my inner cynic at many points (who's doing all the filming of Tom? Who's idea was it to come on tour really? Is he really that thick??) but whoever came up with the idea of having Tom do this obviously had some idea what the results would be. I mean one meeting with Tom would have indicated that he would not be capable in pulling together some kind of coherent documentary. As they say, it takes a very smart person to act dumb. But then again some people are just dumb.
When Tom is behind the camera he is strangely reminiscent of Jack Black at his bratty best. He's disappointed that being on tour with a rock band is actually quite boring. He doesn't really have much interest in any band members other than his brother and he uses these conversations to try and understand his relationship with his brother a bit better. The most arresting scenes are when Matt loses it with Tom - they feel very real and you know you are watching that fraternal relationship that has a lot of history.
I love the National but, to be honest, that's of little consequence. Love them or hate them, you will laugh at this (very short) film.
I have to admit, I had to suppress my inner cynic at many points (who's doing all the filming of Tom? Who's idea was it to come on tour really? Is he really that thick??) but whoever came up with the idea of having Tom do this obviously had some idea what the results would be. I mean one meeting with Tom would have indicated that he would not be capable in pulling together some kind of coherent documentary. As they say, it takes a very smart person to act dumb. But then again some people are just dumb.
When Tom is behind the camera he is strangely reminiscent of Jack Black at his bratty best. He's disappointed that being on tour with a rock band is actually quite boring. He doesn't really have much interest in any band members other than his brother and he uses these conversations to try and understand his relationship with his brother a bit better. The most arresting scenes are when Matt loses it with Tom - they feel very real and you know you are watching that fraternal relationship that has a lot of history.
I love the National but, to be honest, that's of little consequence. Love them or hate them, you will laugh at this (very short) film.
about brothers first, music second
Quinoa19849 October 2015
Mistaken for Strangers is a film that I saw back in early 2014 at the IFC Center in New York. But it's also one of those films I almost forgot I saw- not because I meant to, it just got shuffled briefly out of my memory so far as the title - but I but was extremely glad just now I found the title as the subject matter. You may not know who the Berninger brothers are before going in (or you'll probably know one of them more likely than not), but by the end they leave their mark due to their personalities and how they relate to each other and the world around them.
This is about a filmmaker brother (not a great one, but trying) who follows around his up-n-coming brother musician, who leads the band The National (you may/may not have heard them, big hit singles) while he's promoting a new album and playing concerts. Oh, and there are some incidents that make things awkward, weird and at times it's just a matter of this guy Tom Berninger messing up while kind of 'attached' with this band. Does he know what kind of movie he's making? Does he tell the band? What happens if this all falls apart and he goes back to making schlocky horror movies? Now there's stakes here - at one point the National is even involved at an event with the POTUS (that's an intense, kind of hysterical scene as I recall).
So really, it's about this band The National, but only in the secondary sense. It's much more of a self-portrait, what it means if you keep mucking up your own work and getting in the way of doing what you know you can do creatively (this happens more than once, sometimes just due to the Party-of-One mentality Tom has). But in the light of this guy and his brother - a man who Tom looks up to, but also isn't sure he can really live up to in the sense of creative engagement. Can he make this a great movie? We're along for the ride either way, and it's a funny, affecting, and honest on all sides kind of experience. Charming, even.
This is about a filmmaker brother (not a great one, but trying) who follows around his up-n-coming brother musician, who leads the band The National (you may/may not have heard them, big hit singles) while he's promoting a new album and playing concerts. Oh, and there are some incidents that make things awkward, weird and at times it's just a matter of this guy Tom Berninger messing up while kind of 'attached' with this band. Does he know what kind of movie he's making? Does he tell the band? What happens if this all falls apart and he goes back to making schlocky horror movies? Now there's stakes here - at one point the National is even involved at an event with the POTUS (that's an intense, kind of hysterical scene as I recall).
So really, it's about this band The National, but only in the secondary sense. It's much more of a self-portrait, what it means if you keep mucking up your own work and getting in the way of doing what you know you can do creatively (this happens more than once, sometimes just due to the Party-of-One mentality Tom has). But in the light of this guy and his brother - a man who Tom looks up to, but also isn't sure he can really live up to in the sense of creative engagement. Can he make this a great movie? We're along for the ride either way, and it's a funny, affecting, and honest on all sides kind of experience. Charming, even.
Highly Recommend this poignant movie
debduo25 May 2014
Highly recommend this documentary. It is real and fresh and raw all at the same time. Taps into the human element with emotion and heart. One of the most real movies you may ever see. Don't take it too serious, you will be pleasantly surprised and delighted. Sibling rivalry and seeing how we don't measure up in our families from our parent's and siblings perspective is all confronted in this movie. You will laugh and cry for the characters, they explore how to live life and what is important in life. Very well worth your time. It makes you see the glamorous and drudgery of being in a successful band and what it takes to make it all happen. Ostensibly while looking at the band and its creative process we are given a beautiful look into the organic process of the brother and how he sabotages himself along the way and comes out the other end with a great movie as the result.
Amusing but self-indulgent
db52825 December 2014
It was supposed to be a documentary about a band called The National, but it turned out to be a documentary about an amateur filmmaker's struggle making a documentary about a band called The National. The filmmaker, Tom Berringer, is the lead singer's younger brother, and he was hired on as a roadie for the band. Tom expresses feelings of insecurity living in the shadow of his more successful brother, so it's not surprising that the movie was about Tom with incidental shots of the band. To be fair, it would be difficult to find enough interesting material about a well-mannered band like The Nationals to fill a two-hour movie. The film was self-indulgent, but it was amusing, nonetheless.
The story of two very talented brothers -featuring an amazing band-
plesgaby24 April 2014
Full disclosure: I am a longtime National fan, and I personally think that Matt Berninger is a genius. I watched this movie expecting a traditional band documentary, but even though I would have liked to see more live songs and other musical stuff, I found "Mistaken for Strangers" to be very entertaining and well crafted. Tom is Matt's younger brother, and the movie is mostly centered around his own experience joining the band on tour. He is immature, emotionally unstable, jealous of his brother's success, and kind of annoying, but somehow likable. One of the things that I liked most about the movie is the portrait of the different members of the Berninger family. They all seem like very nice people, and the love and respect that they have for each other (especially Matt and Tom) is evident throughout the film. Seems like both brothers have found a way to channel their own frustration through their art, and the results are very enjoyable in both cases. The movie shows that Tom really has filming talent, and I hope to see more of him in the future (but not exactly the B-class horror / barbarian flicks that he seems to enjoy making). My only complain is that I would have liked to see more of the Dessner and Devendorf brothers, and of course, more National music!
Less of a concert film, and more of a documentary/dramedy about creativity and sibling bonds.
Jeremy_Urquhart7 March 2024
I wanted to give this a revisit because I'm seeing The National live very soon (been waiting about a decade for them to visit my area, so it's exciting), and Mistaken for Strangers was better than I remembered. It spices up the road tour documentary format by having the director be the younger brother of the band's frontman. Perhaps it's a little self-indulgent, and I could see that turning off people who are expecting a more standard documentary about The National... but the approach won me over in the end, and when it becomes about the director trying to make the documentary we're watching, it gets meta in a way that's much more interesting than I remembered (I'm reminded of American Movie more than any music-related documentary).
I think Mistaken for Strangers gets straight to the point, and feels tight at about 75 minutes. It doesn't waste much time, it has some fun (and occasionally intense) behind-the-scenes footage, the soundtrack is naturally very good, it's funny in parts, and I like how it explores the complicated bonds siblings often have. It's good stuff, and I think can be enjoyed by fans and non-fans of The National alike.
I think Mistaken for Strangers gets straight to the point, and feels tight at about 75 minutes. It doesn't waste much time, it has some fun (and occasionally intense) behind-the-scenes footage, the soundtrack is naturally very good, it's funny in parts, and I like how it explores the complicated bonds siblings often have. It's good stuff, and I think can be enjoyed by fans and non-fans of The National alike.
Mistaken for Worthwhile
neil-procter16 May 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Most reviews cite this as being an accidental success. If that is true isn't there an implication that spending years learning a craft and perfecting it is unnecessary? What I saw when I watched this movie was a sibling who was being indulged by his family and his brother's band members, and this afforded him the chance to film the band's world tour. What he did, however, in classic narcissist style,was film himself most of the time. Organisation and planning were concepts he had no idea about. When he interviewed the band members he not only had no questions prepared, he could't actually think of any. He was employed to be a roadie but avoided this responsibility to the point where he lied about completing tasks and was eventually fired by his brother. There was no indication that this thirty something had any kind of job history. In fact, truth be told, the film - his own film mind you - presents him as intellectually challenged. When asked to give an idea of what he'd filmed so far he showed a previous film he'd made - a rank amateur schlock horror movie that a ten year old might make. To their credit, his brother and the members of The National were incredibly tolerant of him. He didn't understand that 'celebrities' at a private gathering might not wish to be filmed because they were filmed all the time in public. At another time he stated that he felt alienated from the band and didn't know why. Well, if you worked for twenty years in any career, banking, computing, taxidermy, whatever,and built up your knowledge and experience, ascended the ladder of success, made yourself known, and then brought your brother into work, wouldn't he be bound to feel alienated; he has no idea what is going on?
In summation, it is an indulgent movie made by a sibling who has not taken time to learn how to film or make a film. To laugh at it is to laugh at handicap.
In summation, it is an indulgent movie made by a sibling who has not taken time to learn how to film or make a film. To laugh at it is to laugh at handicap.
Ladies and Gentleman, Tom Berninger...
mountainloafers10 January 2015
Warning: Spoilers
Now that we know Tom's brother and sister in-law found a dreary, funny, at times embarrassing (until now) cameras view into his wasted, drunken aimless lifestyle while attempting not to have an all out mental break down filming his older brother, Matt and his band, display oodles more uuuum, conviction as the WORK and churn out one fan filled show after the other on a world tour. Luckily for him, Matt and his wife took time and explained to him that this actually enough footage to cover a house full of post it notes about. Only it wasn't the goal to film a documentary about on long held, maybe secret and never spoken jealousy Tom had over Matt for getting his ass out there and seizing life by the nads and putting together, with his band, The National, possibly the most brilliantly underestimated body of work in the history of modern music. Yes, fan boy here, and yes they really are that good,
So, now that we know Tom can get off his ass and make a very heartfelt docudramedy about his improving life, can we now get a Documentary that's about The National? Geees, Tom, it's not all about you, ya know? On a side note. It was a great Brothers on a road trip movie. It was good to see you guys made it through and still love each other.
Now, study up on "How to Give an Interview for Dummies", Drag out the, I'm sure pretty great concert footage, hop in the editing room and give us the real deal. Some of us are fans of the band too, ya know...
For the rest of you that have not been following along, Id say, start by watching Tom's doc, then listen to The Nationals album in reverse, starting with "Trouble Will Find Me" and when you've finished, check out Vincent Knights - The National: A skin, A night, A film. It's another solid 8 out of 10.
So, now that we know Tom can get off his ass and make a very heartfelt docudramedy about his improving life, can we now get a Documentary that's about The National? Geees, Tom, it's not all about you, ya know? On a side note. It was a great Brothers on a road trip movie. It was good to see you guys made it through and still love each other.
Now, study up on "How to Give an Interview for Dummies", Drag out the, I'm sure pretty great concert footage, hop in the editing room and give us the real deal. Some of us are fans of the band too, ya know...
For the rest of you that have not been following along, Id say, start by watching Tom's doc, then listen to The Nationals album in reverse, starting with "Trouble Will Find Me" and when you've finished, check out Vincent Knights - The National: A skin, A night, A film. It's another solid 8 out of 10.
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