Man in the Sand (2001) follows the life and music of Woody Guthrie and the creation of the Mermaid Avenue albums, a joint creation between Billy Bragg and Wilco. I really liked the albums and I feel massively let down by the documentary.
Although it was a great subject, I think it was a terrible idea to let Guthrie's daughter (Nora) be involved. She gave incredibly biased answers and frankly, I just don't like her. She has an annoying voice and narrated the whole movie. Billy Bragg was interesting and seemed really invested in the project, but Jeff Tweedy of Wilco came off as a bit of a twat.
I would have enjoyed the documentary if it was just about Guthrie's life or just about the creation of the album, but there wasn't enough time for both. They played a couple tracks from the album and showed parts of the creative process, but I would have liked to hear more about why Bragg chose any particular song out of the tons of options. Also, Nora Guthrie should not have been allowed to participate.
I gave it a 3/5 on Netflix, but only because I loved the albums. Had Mermaid Avenue sucked, the movie would have gotten a 2/5.
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