Customer Reviews

Take Me Home [VHS]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

While it interesting to have some decent actors associated with this film, it is also very disheartening for any of Johns fans to see so many inaccuracies in this production. The songs are mostly all out of chronological order, and Chad Lowe trying to mime to Johns voice while "playing" unconvincing guitar, does not work. Kristen Davis does a nice job of portraying "Annie", but the film fails to capture the quality of John's music, or his deep commitment to the causes, that drove so much of his work. There is no attempt to analyse why his life became such a struggle for a man at the top of the world. If Hal Thau was indeed involved so deeply with this project, its a crying shame that so many of the production details were poorly researched. John was a highly intelligent and passionate man who spoke in Congress, and lobbyed politicians to help with his environment projects, but in this film he comes across as whinny and insipid - two things he was definately not.
The man deserved a better biopic of his fascinaing life than this tardy effort.

From the first minute of this so called biography, the facts have been tossed out the window. (They've got John singing "This Old Guitar" a full 10 years before he wrote it).
The list of inaccuracies is too long to list here (anyone who only saw this Movie would be shocked to learn that John has a brother! and a manager named Jerry . . . and TALENT!)

Hal Thau had a whole lot less to do with John's success than his manager Jerry Weintraub.

Flying for me was written for the Challenger Crew in 1986, not before his father died in 1982.

Geesh folks, how hard is it to check facts?

John deserved far better.


Note to Chad Lowe: John did not whine all the time and he did not writhe around on stage when he sang.

The only thing mildly amusing about this abomination is the whle 14 seconds devoted to his second marriage.

If you wanna know about John Denver, read his book, listen to his music, and watch The Wild Life Concert. THAT is John Denver.

Chad Lowe's portrayal of John Denver comes off like a Saturday Night Live skit. The fake singing and phony guitar playing are very apparent. He is not believable as John Denver at all. He whine's throughout the movie. Kristen Davis is better but she can't save this disaster. This movie make's John Denver look like a total boob which he was not. Save your money on this one.

This movie was an extremely poor attempt to chronicle the life of one of the world's foremost environmental/humanitarian educators of our time. John used his celebrity to further his beliefs and his passions and through his many admirers, those visions are being continued today. The inaccuracies are far to numerous to mention as well as mundane portrayal by Chad Lowe.

If you want to see the REAL John Denver, I suggest you purchase "Let This Be A Voice" and/or "John Denver: A Song's Best Friend."

I recenty viewed this film, and the entire time I was waiting for something realistic to happen. John Denver is sadly portrayed as a whimpy fool, with no strength,brains, passion for nature or writting, and no integrity.
I Think this film should have been called Annie's story, as Annie is shown as the strength behind, and dominator of his life. Not suprizing, considering the film was made after his death, and she was the chief consaultant. The film serves as a mockery of john Denver under the disguise of a dramatized biogaraphy.
To sum the film up it was poorly casted, poorly directed, presumptuous, and produced in the style of a Lifetime original movie. It might be good for a some laughs at John's expense, if you don't mind throwing away some money.

So speaking as someone who knew him, this movie is total crap. Points to the producer who uses John and still does: "didn't think you get could get any lower but you did!"

Bad script. Bad acting. Bad directing. Bad production. Just plain bad.

For anyone who thinks this piece of trash deserves one look, consider this:
Would you want your life story told by a disgruntled ex-spouse and a liar accountant?

I was shocked to see ANY positive reviews about this movie. Did you know that John Denver's brother, Ron Deutschendorf, saw this movie and was so deeply offended by it (along with his mother) for the terrible miscalculations and fictional accounts of John's life incorporated into this so-called "biopic"?? And I agree with John's family members whole-heartedly. This movie was just plain misinformative, and the worst thing of all was how they portrayed John's persona: whiny, excessively naive, immature, and ignorant is how he comes across in this film. This is NOT who John was, it is the exact OPPOSITE of who John was. John Denver was not an incompetent fool. He DEDICATED his very LIFE to the causes he cared about; namely, the human condition. Passion was his spark, he really did his best to help his fellow man and the Earth. If you are TRULY CURIOUS about who John Denver was, or if you are a fan of John, DO NOT WATCH THIS FILM unless you want to be utterly disgusted by its poor taste. I HIGHLY recommend watching John Denver videos like the ones people post up on YouTube (I even have a tribute I made for JD posted up on YouTube!). Watch anything else you can find with the REAL John Denver in it. Watch his movie "Oh God!", "Foxfire", "Higher Ground", "The Christmas Gift", his TV Special with the Muppets, or any of his concerts. Heck, if you can't get ahold of any of his movies, just listen to this man's music. BUT DON'T WATCH THIS FILM. It is pure garbage. The only positive thing I can attribute to it is that, after seeing it, it gave me the INCENTIVE to tell others how terrible this film is before they decide to go out and BUY IT!!

This biopic, based on John Denver's Take Me Home, An Autobiography, will be enjoyed by hardcore fans (like me) but is still awful in many ways. The story begins in the early 60s as John (Chad Lowe) begins his folk singing career. He meets Annie (Kristin Davis) at a gig and falls in love on the spot. They marry and move to Aspen, but as John's career takes off, tension builds in the marriage. They divorce, he has a short second marriage, and he discovers his love of flying, something that finally earns his stern father's (Gerald McRaney) respect.

This movie is a Cliffs Notes summary of John's life; it's poorly-written and amateurish and lacks any depth or emotion. Lowe (who dons a hideous clown wig that makes him look like Dana Carvey in "Waynes World") mugs shamelessly throughout, playing a leering innocent who never seems to grow up. (In fact, though the film covers thirty years, no one ages.) Davis is very pretty but the horrible script doesn't give her much chance to develop. McRaney plays the only character who seems real, and he's the villain of the piece.

The story is shallow and Lowe's Denver isn't particularly likeable. His hair is so laughable and distracting that the movie doesn't have a chance. Although we hear Denver sing many of his songs, Lowe is terrible at lip-syncing. The DVD extras are worthless; where's some footage of the real JD we loved?

There are quite a few inaccuracies in this movie, but what bothers me most is Lowe's portrayal of Denver which was completely unrecognizable as the real man. Not only did Lowe look nothing like Denver, but more importantly, John Denver did not stammer off set or off stage! It is as if they only saw JD in "Oh God!" where he played a stammering grocery store clerk. The real John Denver was intelligent, articulate and self assured. He rarely, if ever stammered in any of the many interviews that I've seen or in other movies or TV shows that he starred in. Why they chose to portray Denver as a stammering, insecure loser, I'll never know but it is quite upsetting. He deserves much better.

Lowe barely spoke a line in the first half of the movie without stammering and many lines are just awful and depict him as a fool. Here are a few actual lines from the movie, verbatim.

John in his 2nd encounter with Annie: " Hi, Hi, I'm, I'm, I'm John Denver. We, uh, we had a talk, well.. after that concert a few months back."
Annie: "A talk?"
John: "Well yes. You said `Hi' back. That's kind of like a talk right? I, uh, got your address from one of the guys at the, uh, at the frat house."

This movie could have been so much better, but sadly it was a huge disappointment to me and many of his fans.