Product Description

Jason Behr (The Grudge, TVs Roswell) stars as John Livien, a John Lennon-esque NYC musician on the road to greater success with his band mates, played by Dominic Monaghan (TVs Lost and the Lord of the Rings trilogy) and Joshua Leonard (The Blair Witch Project). Despite support from his band, girlfriend Emi (Sarah Wynter, TVs 24) and manager Brea (Ally Sheedy, High Art, The Breakfast Club), Livien still has his own demons to battle. Director Rebecca Cooks bleary-eyed drama beautifully captures the emotion and chaos surrounding the heartfelt creation of rock and roll.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #62821 in DVD
• Brand: TLA RELEASING
• Released on: 2006-05-16
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 90 minutes

Features

• Jason Behr (The Grudge , TV s "Roswell") stars as John Livien, a John Lennon-esque NYC musician on the road to greater success with his band mates, played by Dominic Monaghan (TV s "Lost" and the Lord of the Rings trilogy) and Joshua Leonard (The Blair Witch Project). Despite support from his band, girlfriend Emi (Sarah Wynter, TV s "24") and manager Brea (Ally Sheedy, High Art, The Breakfast Club

Amazon.com
Although he is never mentioned by name, the ghost of John Lennon haunts writer-director-producer Rebecca Cook's Shooting Livien, a relentlessly bleak tale about the rise (sort of) and fall of a New York rock musician. Portrayed by Jason Behr (known principally for his work on TV shows like Dawson's Creek and Roswell), John Livien is a New York singer-songwriter on the threshold of the big time. His ducks all seem to be in a row: his bandmates (including Dominic Monaghan, The Lord of the Rings' Merry) and manager (Ally Sheedy) are ready to rock; record companies are interested; he's got an adoring, attractive girlfriend (Sarah Wynter of The Dead Zone and 24); and folks seem to love his tunes, which evoke "Come Together" and other Lennon classics (Livien also bears a passing resemblance to Lennon, along with a bogus Brit accent that surfaces whenever he wants to sound insouciant and/or sardonic, just like the former Beatle). Livien also has a drug jones, not to mention big time Mom and Dad issues that follow him around like a rabid mongrel and result in hallucinations, suicidal tendencies, and other bad stuff. But his (and, in the end, our) biggest problem is that Livien is a pretentious, miserable, solipsistic loser who goes out of his way to thoroughly alienate everyone around him. As we now know, John Lennon was a fairly prickly character himself. But he was also a driven, preternaturally gifted artist whose work had a profound influence on the world. As depicted in this film, John Livien (Livien… Lennon… clever, eh?) is merely a passably talented wanker who's nearly impossible to like or care about. Director Cook shows some genuine promise, but Shooting Livien is a bummer. --Sam Graham

Customer Reviews

Don't pass over this under-rated film...
Anyone who has ever lived through a life altering event that left a scar of mental disorder will see the beauty in this film. Film critique's are correct in their assessment of directer/writer Rebecca Cook's talent and promise, however they fail to read between the lines of character John Livien and feel the depth of what this movie offers to all of us as human beings. Dark, gloomy, and exhaustingly dismal...this movie touches upon the John Livien in all of us, and the inner demons that we can either choose to live under...or learn from and move on.

Shooting Livien gets two thumbs up from me...and I give the yahoo's who don't appreciate this film two thumbs down.

The Real Deal
I stumbled across this film on Showtime, having never heard of it before. I've always been a big fan of films about struggling rock musicians, despite the fact that most in this genre strike a lot of false notes - no pun intended. SHOOTING LIVIEN, however, is the real deal. This little film, filled with gritty, grotty New York locales and subtle, nuanced performances, is completely authentic. It follows the burgeoning career of The Virgins Undone, a fictional NYC power trio fronted by the charismatic but deeply troubled John Livien. Through brief, drug induced flashbacks, the viewer is given hazy glimpses into the childhood trauma at the root of his problems - conflicted memories of his mentally unstable mother, who fostered his early love of music and art, as well as his lifelong idolization of John Lennon. Frequently addled by booze and drugs, Livien is vaguely disassociative, subject to frightening hallucinations and exhibiting strange, sexually inappropriate behaviour. In situations where he needs to assert himself (e.g, when he is on stage), he hides behind affectations that mimic his idol, a pseudo-Liverpudlian accent and (non-prescription) round glasses. Deeply mistrusting of women, he attempts to seduce every one he meets with an odd mixture of aggression and submissiveness. The relationship between him and his mother and her tragic fate (a mystery revealed somewhat late in the film) has left him such obviously damaged goods, that the band's A&R rep, one of his many conquests, (an impressively lowkey Ally Sheedy) observes, "Whatever she did to you, she almost spoiled you for the rest of us."

The stunning Jason Behr is utterly riveting, completely believable and heartbreaking in the title role. If there's any justice in Hollywood, he'll soon be competing with Billy Crudup for quality parts in intelligent films. Dominic Monaghan and Joshua Leonard, as his bandmates, also turn in ingratiating, naturalistic performances. The dialogue and easy camraderie between the three men is one of the film's most authentic elements. Last but certainly not least, the original music is head and shoulders above what usually passes for great rock and roll in films of this ilk (see the lame-o Sparklehorse tunes in LAUREL CANYON as an example of the downside of this musical genre) and the songs sound quite credibly like the music of Livien's supposed main influence, post-Beatles John Lennon.

I can't say enough good things about this one. If you catch it, be sure to watch until after the last credit rolls so you are left with no doubts about an otherwise ambiguous ending. Wonderful.

Shooting Livien
I found this movie highly enjoyable. Fairly well filmed for an idependent movie. Jason Behr played the role of rising rock-star with a troubled past and slowly falling into insanity quite well. Though what made this movie for me was Dominic Monaghan's performance. His role as Owen made this movie extremely entertaining and I fell like I wouldn't have enjoyed this movie as much without him in it. He is a very talented actor.

Although if you are wishing to view this movie for the Beatles aspect, than this would be a let down. Although the Beatles were mentioned throughout the movie quite often and the relationship of Yoko and Lennon was slightly mimiced; it had almost nothing to do with the Beatles. But, the music in this movie was amazing and I found myself wishing I could put it on my Ipod.