wildwood66 Reading through the other reviews, obviously the majority are massive fans of Townes Van Zandt (as I am) and their views are from the side of people who were already very familiar with Townes and his combination of self-destructiveness, married with some of the most sublime songwriting ever heard. However, what about if you were one of the people who had never heard of Townes (and lets face it, he was largely a cult figure)and you watched this film from the perspective of trying to learn something more about the man. Would you know more about what made him so selfish, so distant to those that he professed to love. Would you have learnt about why he chose to play guitar, what he read or absorbed to be able to write such perfect prose. Who were his musical influences apart from Lightning Hopkins? In my opinion this film does not answer these questions satisfactorily, if at all. In that way I found the film lacking depth and substance. Make no mistake, I loved being able to see Townes play live. I loved hearing largely gushing comments about his talent (Steve Earle excepted with his story about Townes playing Russian Roulette), but somehow this film left me uninvolved and without any deeper knowledge about the life of Townes Van Zandt. As I said in the title - In a word - Frustrating.

JEVizzusi Margaret Brown's story of Singer and Songwriter Townes Van Zandt is a wonderful tribute and heartfelt autobiography. In her own retro film style, I felt like I was part of the story of a struggling Musician trying to make it in a world that cared more about the record deal than the songs they produced. Van Zandt stuck to his guns and never sold out and recorded some of finest lyrics and haunting acoustical guitar work anyone has ever heard. The interviews really take you inside this guy's life - head and soul... and raw footage of Townes is aplenty in this film. One comment that will stay with myself forever was a interview with a Tour Manager whom stated: "He was moving up the Concert Tour Circuit... almost to a Motor Coach, YEA, he was ready to go! Van Zandt could care less about so-called fame, and just wrote and played what he felt. And this film sends the message to do whats in your heart, even if it kills ya at a young age. For any Artist, a 'Must See Documentary Film! John Vizzusi, Behind the Indie Camera / Florida Film Monthly

Chris Knipp The straightforward title signals a straightforward piece of work: Be There to Love Me is a documentary about singer-songwriter Townes van Zandt. He's the kind of guy who looks real cool at first, but when you learn about how he lived and what he went through and put other people through, he doesn't seem so cool.Be that as it may, Van Zandt wrote wonderful songs, poetic and sad, blues and country, and Kris Kristofferson called him "a songwriter's songwriter." His life was a strange mixture from the start. He was depressed and sniffed glue as a young teenager: the glue wrecked his teeth, aside from what it did to his brain. He was also an athlete, wrestling, baseball, football, and he was a handsome lean man who never got wide or lost his hair. His depression caused him to throw himself off a roof and his mother wanted to do something, so she had him sent to a hospital around Memphis where he got insulin shock treatments. This is something his mother regretted till her dying day. It took away all Townes's childhood memories and robbed him of a chunk of his personality. When he talks, you feel that something's missing. There's a distance, as if he's watching himself, as if he's not quite there. And he isn't.Van Zandt remained gloomy and wrote about death in his songs, He drank and did drugs, but also went on the road – an act of self destruction but also an act of self denial, paring down to be creative – to write songs and sing them. Eventually he became quite well known, traveled with a little crew, and famous singers did covers of his songs, including Willie Nelson and Emmylou Harris. He died of heart failure at 52. He had three wives and I think one daughter and two sons.This documentary uses a lot of old footage, even of Townes as a young child. His family was pretty well off – which he is said to have regretted, because his songs are of the poor, lonely, and hopeless. This documentary achieves a kind of truth even though there is little that is distinctive about it but the songs. As a good documentary should, it serves its subject humbly.

NYCDude This is a wonderful documentary about a songwriter almost universally acknowledged to be one of the best, if not, the best country/folk songwriter of the last 50 years. Many friends, including such notables as Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Steve Earl, Emmylou Harris and Guy Clark, give some of their remembrances and evaluations of his work. There are lots of interviews with Townes, as well a several performances lovingly sung by him and others. All in all, a beautiful documentary. Now for some personal gripes, mainly calling for another hour or so in a 99 minute documentary: 1) I would have liked more complete, uninterrupted, performances. The director clearly did not want this to be a concert film, but at least one complete, uninterrupted performance would have been nice. 2) The beautiful Tecumsen (Tecumseh) Valley song is not sung or mentioned. This was a great disappointment for me, having lived with Nanci Griffith's as well as Townes' version of this great song.*** POSSIBLE SPOILERS *** The depiction of Townes' mental problems as well as his drug and alcohol problems were frankly discussed by friends and relatives. One could be saddened by his early demise, but not surprised.