The Couchpotatoes I have to admit that it took me fifty years to understand that some band players are just 'hired guns', never knew about that, I always thought they just played in different bands as full members. So for that only this documentary was an eye opener for me, and a good reason to watch it. It was very interesting to see the view of those artists on the bands they played with, and how some of those 'celebrities' are just a bunch of egoistic egocentric bastards, like Billy Joel in this documentary. He's a heartless very self-centered egoistic prick that doesn't deserve anybody buying his music. On the other hand you can witness what a wonderful guy his drummer Liberty DeVitto is, still forgiving everything and playing for peanuts. But there are also others than Billy Joel that are just wannabe good people and I guess that once you got a bit of success you just look at other people like they are your possession. In this documentary you also discover nice celebrities, with a golden heart, like Alice Cooper, Ozzy and Pink, not directly people that I would have thought being nice persons in daily life. So never judge a book by it's cover. The documentary is very well made, with tons of relevant interviews of great side artists, guitar and drum virtuoses that made the name of some big bands without ever being recognized. Interviews with hired guns, producers, artists and so on, it all passes the revue and it's very interesting and pleasant to listen to. If you are a music fan you should definitely watch Hired Gun. I will always listen to music in a different way now.

snowboarderbo Fantastic interviews, freaking amazing people being interviewed and an excellent focus on the subject matter.I knew a lot of those names going in to this, but there were more that I didn't know. I thought that was great, getting to "meet" new people. I found out a lot about some people I had heard of, too, for instance: I knew who Jason Hook was because I've been listening to 5FDP since they started; but I didn't know his history, so it was cool seeing how he's a regular blue-collar guy at heart.In fact, that was the coolest takeaway for me, I think, was seeing how all these guys, despite their incredible and somewhat arcane skills, really are blue-collar-"working for a living" folks just like me.My favorite takeaway tho, is that Liberty Devitto is clearly one of the coolest mofoss on the planet in addition to being a kick-ass drummer. I wanna hang out with him, buy him a beer or something. If I thought he'd get any money from it, I'd go buy Billy Joel's entire catalog right now (relax; I know he wouldn't).Truly worthwhile, IMO, if you are a musician or just love music. Again, 10/10 rating from me.

bettycjung 1/11/18. What a cool bunch of professionals. This is a great documentary to watch in which session musicians get to share their love of playing for the sake of playing. Though many have gone nameless, playing in the shadow of big personalities, they are so grateful for the chance just to play in that kind of environment. These are the true artists in the music world! Worth catching.

sisicronin Absolutely incredible! if you are a fan of music you MUST see this film. Ideally on the big screen! I have seen the film 3 times, at SXSW, in the theater, and on DVD, and I well up every time. The "Hired Guns" featured are the most talented musicians in the world and each of their stories are incredible. Highly recommended.