Dreamin’ Wild

Summary

“You’ve got a gift. You’ve got to use it.”

The 2022 musical bio-pic Dreamin’ Wild has recently been given a digital release. Starring Casey Affleck and Walton Goggins, the film tells the true story of the Emerson brothers. Based on a magazine article by Steven Kurutz, the film was written and directed by Bill Pohlad. Bill Pohlad had previously written and directed the Brian Wilson bio-pic Love and Mercy. I was interested in checking out the film because I was well aware of the story of the Emerson brothers and the circuitous way that they eventually found fame and a sort of redemption for their sole album that they created as teenagers. 

In 2011, Donnie Emerson (Casey Affleck) struggles to make a living as a studio musician and studio owner in Seattle with his wife Nancy (Zooey Deschanel.) They have two young children and economic worries hanging over their heads. Donnie gets a phone call from his older brother Joe (Walton Goggins.) Joe explains that a gentleman from a record label called Light in the Attic Records has expressed interest in their album they had recorded when they were teenagers. Donnie is perplexed how anyone has even heard the album that he poured himself into years earlier. The album had been an unmitigated failure upon its release, and his pursuit of his musical ambitions had unintentionally cost his family hundreds of acres in land from bad bank loans. Donnie has carried the weight of the lost land on his shoulders for the decades that he has continued to struggle in the music industry. Donnie agrees to head home to the farm to meet with the record executive Matt Sullivan (Chris Messina.) Matt explains to the family that a copy of the record had been found in an antique store and had eventually come his way. It blew his mind and has been developing buzz from the record collecting community. He would like to go into business with them to give the record a proper release. Joe and Donnie’s father (Beau Bridges) looks at this as an opportunity for the two brothers to finally have their work appreciated. When the album is released, it quickly becomes one of the bestselling records from Light in the Attic. The song “Baby” becomes a minor hit, is given praise by Jimmy Fallon, and even Pitchfork gives their album an 8/10. Given the success of the album, Matt asks if Joe and Donnie would like to perform at a well known venue in Seattle. Donnie sees an opportunity to finally make it, but he has conflicting feelings about performing once more with his brother as opposed to his wife. Donnie’s insecurities and guilt mix with his perfectionism to cause unintended conflict between himself and his supportive older brother who has not pursued music seriously since they were teenagers.

When I was growing up, I started playing guitar when I was about thirteen. Like any guitarist that can strum guitar while singing, the typical dream is to eventually write some song that will make your mark. I wrote some songs and even performed in front of my senior class at Baccalaureate, but I was eventually struck by the fact that I did not actually want that dream enough to put in the hard work. My lyrics were not up to snuff, and my guitar playing was passable at best. This is not uncommon. Despite my love for playing and singing, there was an eventual realization that I truly did not want it enough. What makes the story of the Emerson brothers so appealing is that they not only went for their dream at a young age with the full support of their family, but eventually in a small way that dream came true. Dreamin’ Wild is the type of nice low-key drama about real people that used to be made fairly often. For some reason these types of films seem to be more rare these days, and I am not sure why that is the case. Screenwriter and director Bill Pohlad capably tells the story and draws excellent performances from his cast. While moments of the script feel slightly drawn out or possibly more emotionally charged than was the case in real life, it is hard to find fault in the inspiring story of a family that was willing to lose so much in order for their children to pursue making melodies.

Casey Affleck is fantastic as the downtrodden Donnie. Affleck has found a niche for playing melancholy characters and he has no difficulty displaying the years of difficulty and the guilt that Donnie felt. Walton Goggins has been one of my favorite character actors since I first began watching him in the series Justified. Goggins has tremendous range and turns in the type of underplayed brilliant performance that you would expect from the actor. Zooey Deschanel is solidly cast as Nancy, although the script does not give her quite enough screen time to become a multi-faceted character. Beau Bridges is wonderful as the loving patriarch of the family, but that should come as no surprise given his tremendous career of excellent performances. Chris Messina is similarly well cast. It is worth pointing out that this film would completely fall apart if the music itself by the Emerson brothers was not of high quality. Their extremely earnest album Dreamin’ Wild showed so much potential that it is easy to understand why Light in the Attic sought them out and why a film would want to tell their story.

Dreamin’ Wild is the type of small scale drama that seems to be so rarely made these days. While the film at some points struggles under some of the melodrama between the brothers, the film is largely a success. The film is held up by strong performances from an excellent cast. 

Overall – 4/5

Dreamin’ Wild is a well made and very well acted small scale drama about musical dreams and the difficulty of pursuing those dreams. It is a family drama that draws on excellent performances by Casey Affleck, Walton Goggins, and Beau Bridges. The film is completely appropriate for family viewing with a PG rating, while not being saccharine or insipid like many films aimed at families. It does not seem like small scale dramas are being made that often these days, and I certainly enjoyed watching the film. If you are interested in the story of the Emerson family, I definitely recommend checking out the film.