mountainloafers 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.

db528 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.

I_actually_am_sam 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.

debduo 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.