Release: Songbird

 

Songbird

Genre: Biography/Drama/Music

Director: Cameron Crowe

Writer: Diane Esposito

Cast: Taylor Swift, Paul Dano, Josh O'Connor, Anna Camp, Jared Keeso, Tom Hughes, Frank Dillane, Finn Wittrock, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Victoria Pedretti, Carina Battrick

Budget: $44,000,000

Domestic Box Office: $105,904,484

Foreign Box Office: $55,235,904

Total Profit: $58,489,296

Reaction: It seems like the Taylor Swift effect worked out for us like it does for the TV ratings of Kansas City Chiefs home games as the film proved to be a huge hit for the studio.

"Cameron Crowe's Songbird is more of a tribute to the life and music of Joni Mitchell than a real biopic. Taylor Swift delivers a surprisingly strong performance as Joni Mitchell, capturing her artistic spirit and singing prowess with equal aplomb. The filmmakers wisely surround her with an immensely talented ensemble of supporting actors. Songbird doesn't just tell Mitchell's story - it aims to make you feel it." - Dave Manning, Ridgefield Press

"Taylor Swift in a role she was born to play, effortlessly showing us Joni Mitchell's story in a mesmerizing and empowering performance. While fans will undoubtedly flock to the theater to see Taylor, they'll walk away with a greater understanding on one of the pioneers of women's music and why its influential today. That being said, the film squeezes in just a few too many relationships that could have been trimmed off to allow us more time to focus on Joni's inner-world." - Dexter Quinn - Cinematic Observer

"This is surely one of the biggest creative gambles LRF has made in casting someone with minimal acting experience to carry an entire film, albeit a mega-star who should give the film automatic box office appeal. So let's get this out of the way: she's fine! Crowe's experience plays a big role in this, knowing Swift's biggest impact will come in the musical sequences—which are excellent. She can undoubtedly feel wooden at times but it doesn't help that story just feels stale at times. It moves at 1.5x speed through familiar story beats and folk cameos, none of whom are given much time to shine (Dano's steady presence being the one exception)." - Reggie Coscarelli, San Fernando Valley Sun

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, language, sexual content, and some drug use