An Affair of the Heart (2012)

Rick Springfield is a unique musician.  In this documentary we are shown Rick Springfield and his fans.  The problem with the documentary is that I enjoyed seeing Rick Springfield perform, and even listening to his devoted fans, but the film doesn't know what it wants to be.  A fandom film explaining why his fans love him, and go out of there way and see him, or that of the artist himself.

I really took away the hard work Springfield puts into his concerts and his performances.  He really is a working mans musician.  He seems like a really ordinary person who had fame thrust upon him, and then disappeared for awhile.  Springfield still produces new material, and tours heavily, but it's the fans that the filmmakers seem to be interested in and yet they do a poor job at getting into the heart of that.  The filmmakers focus on only a handful of fans, and don't really get to the heart of why Springfield is so popular with them.  We do see how hard Springfield works, but I'm sure that any musician worth his or her salt does the same.  After all it's because of the fans and their love for them that the performer is even on stage.

I wanted to know more about the man especially when they talk about the details of his life.  The suicide attempt, the infidelities, and the problems with drugs are all glossed over.  They do mention that Springfield wrote a book "Late, late at Night" and the film feels like a commercial for the book.  Maybe it's all covered in the book, but one wonders if the film is all about the promotion of the book or an actual account of an artist and his fans.

So I really don't know what to say about the film.  Yes I really do have some respect for Springfield, but he glosses over things and doesn't really answer the question of why.   It's a good hour and half to hear and see Springfield's commitment to his fans,and to see how hard he works, but if you want to know who he is, and why he does the things he does then you'll be disappointed.  Their is no true depth to this documentary.

I like the artist, but the documentary is just gloss and fluff.  The film doesn't know what it wants to be.  I feel that the filmmakers were too close to their subject and not objective enough.  It also feels that maybe they too were blinded by his charisma and lost their objectivity.  The scenes with the fans also seem a bit staged, and sometimes they come across as too obsessive.

Your better off putting on one of Springfield's albums for a better experience with the man, and skip the documentary altogether because according to Springfield it's all in his music.   All the pain, hurt and joy is there and all you just need to do is listen.