Sunday, November 20, 2005

Jerry Garcia Biopic


Ok, Oliver Stone pulled it off when he produced "The Doors" and cast Val Kilmer to play Jim Morrison, but I highly doubt that a 19 year old and his buddy can do Jerry Garcia justice when casting for his film.

There has been recent talk of making a biopic dedicated to the life of Jerry Garcia. Sounds like a good idea.....but, it is a very fragile subject in some people's eyes. Justin Berfield, 19, AKA Malcom's big brother from "Malcom in the Middle," will be prducing the movie. I also heard through one source that he would be playing Jerry's character in his younger years.

I have a very hard time believing that this is the right person for the job. First of all, I think that in order to really capture the true feeling of the time periods covered, there should be someone there that lived it. The true heart of the hippie lifestyle is hard to replicate accurately.

Justin and his partner have aquired the rights to two different books, one called "Captain Trips" and the other, "One More Saturday Night." The author of these books, Sandy Troy, had promised Jerry's family that he would wait until the 10th anniversary of Jerry's death to sell the rights to make a movie. Considering that it has only been three months since the anniversary, I don't think there was much time or thought into who would be in charge of this project. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think I'm safe to say that there were not years of planning, considering that Justin was only 9 years old when Jerry passed away.

This is a very touchy subject for me as well as many other deadheads and music lovers out there. Jerry was a genius, and had such a significant impact on this world, that I believe his life story should be handled with the utmost care. It will be a terrible shame if his life is portrayed from only the perspective of what a 19 year old can learn from a book. I realize there will be more to it than that, but without having lived some of the scene and witnessed it firsthand, I don't think they have the right person for the job. I am disappointed in Carolyn Garcia, as many fans are, for her continuous decisions that seem to be based on monetary factors, and not the deep meaning that this, and so many other things could have if handled correctly.

It will be hard to watch anyone on screen playing the role of the icon that we all know as Jerry Garcia. I hope that I will not be as disappointed as I think I will.

Maybe someone should call Oliver Stone....he always seems to do things right, or at least so they will have a huge impact on the viewers.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maybe Justin is a BIG fan of Jerry’s, look into his background.

The way his brother acts on that 70's Show (if it's the same person I'm thinking of) they are Hippies at heart and their parents from what I have seen (on ET) seem hippy-ish I don't know. Look into Justin’s background on the web you maybe surprised or you could be RIGHT.

Andrea said...

No one will ever replace Jerry. And if they do some "movie of the week" of his life - who will be watching? Not us.

I hope they get it right.

Andrea said...

Check out this auction - Jerry Garcia's appliances (including toilets) are being auctioned off.

http://www.sophia-foundation.org/

Or check out the story on Yahoo:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051129/ap_en_ot/people_jerry_garcia_auction;_ylt=AmyTboebGs0dd_StH5DbjTFxFb8C;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--

alli-gal said...

Too bad they don't have anything cool from his house....but I guess some die hard deadhead out there would appreciate this stuff!!

sela said...

Wow! Jerry Garcia's throne! Now that's a conversation piece!

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