Movie Review: It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley

Jeff Buckley may be the best musician you’ve never heard of. His career spanned exactly one album, but his influence is immeasurable. In It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley, Oscar-nominated documentarian Amy Berg does a marvelous job of capturing what was so unique about the enigmatic singer/songwriter.

The musician’s father, Tim Buckley, was an avant-garde folk rocker who achieved moderate success in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. He did not stick around, and Jeff’s only interaction with his dad was during a one-week visit months before Tim would overdose on heroin at just 28 years old.

Berg does an excellent job of assembling snippets of interviews in which Jeff’s complicated relationship with his father informed his own life and career. His single mother, Mary, was the dominant influence in his life, and their relationship is chronicled in depth, including current interviews for the film.

In 1994, Buckley released Grace, which is best known for the ballad Last Goodbye and his cover of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, by far the most popular rendition of a song that has been covered professionally more than 300 times. There is also a cover of Nina Simone’s Lilac Wine. Buckley grew up fascinated by female vocalists like Simone, and mimicking the sounds from before he could speak is thought to be intrinsic to his high-pitched, four-octave voice.

Grace is widely considered to be the greatest debut album of all time, and upon its release, won high praise from such notable musicians as Bob Dylan, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and David Bowie, who named it as one of 10 albums he would bring with him to a desert island. For the record, it would be one of mine, as well.

Buckley died in an accidental drowning while swimming in the Mississippi River in 1997. He was 30 years old, had just moved to Memphis, and was to meet his bandmates that same afternoon to begin work on his second album.

In It’s Never Over, audiences receive a more comprehensive portrait of the artist than has been previously available, including his struggles with the emergence of his fame and the commercialization of his music. More than anything else, it provides a window into the tenderness of the man behind all of those beautiful recordings.

It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley is currently playing at Green Light Theater in downtown St. Petersburg.