Synopsis
There are times when it's right and proper to simply bury the dead. This is not one of those times... Gram Parsons was one of the most influential musicians of his time; a bitter, brilliant, genius who knew Elvis, tripped with the Stones and fatally overdosed on morphine and tequila in 1973. And from his dying came a story. A story from deep within folklore; a story of friendship, honour and adventure; a story so extraordinary that if it didn't really happen, no one would believe it. Two men, a hearse, a dead rock star, five gallons of petrol, and a promise. And the most extraordinary chase of modern times.
Your Movie Library
Cast
- Johnny KnoxvillePhil Kaufman
- Christina ApplegateBarbara
- Gabriel MachtGram Parsons
- Marley SheltonSusie
- Robert ForsterStanley Parsons
- Michael ShannonLarry Oster-Berg
- Mary Pat GleasonNurse
- Wesley MannDoctor
- Dylan BrunoTraffic Cop
- Danielle SapiaGirl at Joshua Tree Inn
Recommendations
- 80
Film Threat
Top it off with a cameo by the real-life Phil Kaufman, and you've got a rock'n'roll road movie like no other. Wherever he is, Gram should get a kick out of it. - 70
Variety
A likably laid-back spin about the bizarre fate of rock 'n' roll legend Gram Parsons' corpse. Inspired by a true story, pic travels down familiar genre highways, but quirky humor and an apt soundtrack make for a pleasant enough journey. - 63
New York Daily News
Gram Parsons' last rites were among the most extraordinary in rock history. Too bad this retelling of the singer's final adventure is so tame. - 50
Village Voice
Neither a satisfying exploration of ’70s culture, nor a madcap "Weekend at Bernie’s" caper, nor an informative paean to Parsons's legacy, Grand Theft stumbles toward all three possibilities, backpedals, then stalls, left to coast as an insipid road movie. - 50
New York Post
The film is too low-key to be the farcical rock-and-roll jape it sometimes seems to strive for, yet too lighthearted to be affecting. - 50
Los Angeles Times
Knoxville is surprisingly good playing a man who may have been in one too many barroom brawls, moving with a hunched, hips-forward swagger that suggests someone constantly walking through very low doorways. - 50
The New York Times
Parsons himself might have written a surreal, funny-sad ballad about the aftermath of his own death, but Grand Theft Parsons is little more than a surreal anecdote, told in too much detail and without enough soul or imagination to make anything more than a footnote to a legend. - 50
The Hollywood Reporter
What could have served as a colorful episode in a more expansive film about the famed singer has instead become the premise of a mildly entertaining but overextended road movie that doesn't succeed on either dramatic or comedic terms.
