By Matthew Moorcroft

Solid Recommendation

• Directed by Bill Pohlad
• Starring Casey Affleck, Noah Jupe, Jack Dylan Grazer, Walton Goggins
• PG

This piece was written during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike. Without the labor of the actors currently on strike, the film being covered here wouldn’t exist.

About halfway into Dreamin’ Wild, Donnie and Joe Emerson, the two brothers responsible for the album that the movie is based on, find themselves at a crossroads. Do they play the old stuff that everybody wants to hear, or do they follow what Donnie, the so called “real prodigy” of the duo, wants to do and play a bunch of new music? It’s an interesting dilemma, mainly for the fact that barely anybody has heard them – they are, to many, a recent discovery.

Dreamin’ Wild is fascinating as a music biopic because unlike most, it’s less about the legendary figure that it covers but more about the strange, almost impossible to believe scenario that actually happened. Two 15 year olds created a record? By themselves? That was sold? And nobody bought it? And it’s actually good? It’s the kind of story you would hear in a movie as something to insane to have actually happened, but truth is sometimes indeed stranger then fiction. As such, Dreamin’ Wild doesn’t really do a whole lot to change the actual story, wisely assuming most wouldn’t know it and instead using that as a way to tell an otherwise bizarre, and inspiring, story.

Director Bill Pohlad, whose previous film Love & Mercy was also a music biopic albeit about a much bigger figure (The Beach Boys), smartly reigns it in for this one and keeps the tone down to earth and homely. Dreamin’ Wild is low key as hell, almost too low key, as it’s stakes are as personal as they can get for these kinds of stories. There isn’t any grand “we have to save the band” narrative or some kind of illness that happens halfway through. Donnie and Joe’s whole dilemma, which is both what is referenced above but also their own insecurities, are all interpersonal and intimate. It’s a film more about the people behind the music then the music itself, which is around yes but takes a back seat on several occasions to make sure you remember the people that made this and how young they actually were.

As somebody who loves stories like this – mainly ones about young people who are able to do spectacular things in spite of limitations – there is definitely a lot to love about Dreamin’ Wild in spite of some of it’s hookier elements. It’s not a particularly subtle script, nor does it really need to be thankfully, and both Affleck and Goggins are fantastic enough to elevate it. Affleck in particular brings a lot of complicated nuance to a role that could have easily simply been “old dreamer turned cynic” but instead he brings a warmth to the role that just makes you wanna give the guy a hug. Shoutout to the excellent Beau Bridges as well, whose scenes with Affleck are easily the highlight of the piture.

Or at least they would be if it wasn’t for the fact that it’s also downright gorgeous to look at. The backlit cinematography that permeates every frame makes this a strikingly beautiful picture at points, and there are landscape shots that will take your breath away. The handheld shaky cam is used sparingly, mainly just for the practice scenes or anything with performance, and instead of being distracting it’s shockingly effective in it’s presentation.

It’s pretty great that as well that this ended up being more of a “get the band back together” movie then an origin film or some kind of “life story” kind of film then most biopics; it’s the rare time the post-story is far more interesting then the initial story itself, as the small cutaways to them as kids are far less interesting then the adult dilemmas. It’s a good thing then that they are cut away to often, and instead used sparingly in key moments, but the moments that over focus on them – particularly during a stretch in the middle – is really the only key failing of the film.

Though in fact, one could argue that Dreamin’ Wild does have too little going on and needs those moments to fill a runtime. And while that is possible, the final result is still one that’s in the higher tier of music biopics – a genre that has become increasingly stale and boring over the years. While I’m not going to immediately vouch for this one as one of the all time greats, as it’s ultimately a bit slight, it’s sheer craftsmanship is probably worth a watch alone.