Song One

From the opening frames of "Song One" you hope that this will be a naturalistic movie musical along the lines of "Once." We open on a busker, Henry (Ben Rosenfield), an unknown artist with nothing but hope, singing his desperately romantic ballads for spare change in the subway station. As the crowds disappear, he jots down a few notes, pops his head phones on and heads for home.

Then he gets run over by a taxi.

This story is actually about the busker's sister, Franny Ellis (Anne Hathaway), a beautiful anthropology Ph.D. student, who must return home from her exotic travels in India as Henry has been left in critical condition and entered a coma.

As you may suspect by her behavior, Franny hasn't been very nice to Henry for that past few months. She was very critical of him when he left school to pursue his music. And even though he sent her many CDs and YouTube links to share his talent with her, she never listened to any of it.

In her guilt, she decides to do something desperate. She uses a single concert ticket Henry left in his notebook to attend a concert featuring his favorite singer/songwriter, James Forrester (Johnny Flynn). After the concert, as the crowds are getting Forrester's autograph, there is a desperate, awkward and absolutely human moment as Franny shows the musician a fan picture of himself with her brother, explains the situation and asks if perhaps the famous man remembers her unknown brother.

Low and behold, the next day Forrester shows up in Henry's hospital room, saying, "It's the least I could do."

No, the least you could do is nothing at all, which is what most people would have done. A smart publicist could have alerted the media to get some nice publicity, and an ambitious musician could have released a "Singin' for Henry" album that could substantially increase his fan base. But Forrester is simply a smolderingly soulful musician almost divinely sent to repair Franny's broken soul.

At moments you hope that some, more interesting, complication will rise out of writer/director Kate Barker-Froyland's Harlequin Romance scenario, like when the two new lovers read some of the almost disturbingly obsessive things that Henry has written about his hero. But, no: This movie is like one of those albums by a new artist that seems to have potential, but ultimately all the songs end up sounding the same.

The special features on this Blu-ray contain a behind-the-scenes recording of the sound track, shot in a D. A. Pennebaker documentary film style, and some deleted scenes, including a brief funny moment backstage where Fred Armisen plays a music critic.

"Song One"
Blu-ray
Rated PG-13 / 86 minutes
cinedigmentertainment.com