Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Wow, this was not what I expected. I haven't laughed this hard at a documentary since Michael Moore stopped doing them. Briefly, it's loosely based on Matt Berninger's brother Tom's attempts to make a movie about the band.I have to admit, I had to suppress my inner cynic at many points (who's doing all the filming of Tom? Who's idea was it to come on tour really? Is he really that thick??) but whoever came up with the idea of having Tom do this obviously had some idea what the results would be. I mean one meeting with Tom would have indicated that he would not be capable in pulling together some kind of coherent documentary. As they say, it takes a very smart person to act dumb. But then again some people are just dumb.When Tom is behind the camera he is strangely reminiscent of Jack Black at his bratty best. He's disappointed that being on tour with a rock band is actually quite boring. He doesn't really have much interest in any band members other than his brother and he uses these conversations to try and understand his relationship with his brother a bit better. The most arresting scenes are when Matt loses it with Tom - they feel very real and you know you are watching that fraternal relationship that has a lot of history.I love the National but, to be honest, that's of little consequence. Love them or hate them, you will laugh at this (very short) film.

Pretty awesome documentary overall. I really didn't expect it to be any good and was pleasantly surprised. As well, I had never heard of this band before, not necessarily my type of music but I liked what I heard. Tom is a guy we all know, maybe a guy we are all at times. A likable fellow that can to no awareness of his own, ruffle feathers and mess things up even though his heart is in the right place. The dynamic of this film captured how we can all feel insignificant despite our efforts. Tom you are talented and you showed it with this documentary for sure.Def worth a watch.

Highly recommend this documentary. It is real and fresh and raw all at the same time. Taps into the human element with emotion and heart. One of the most real movies you may ever see. Don't take it too serious, you will be pleasantly surprised and delighted. Sibling rivalry and seeing how we don't measure up in our families from our parent's and siblings perspective is all confronted in this movie. You will laugh and cry for the characters, they explore how to live life and what is important in life. Very well worth your time. It makes you see the glamorous and drudgery of being in a successful band and what it takes to make it all happen. Ostensibly while looking at the band and its creative process we are given a beautiful look into the organic process of the brother and how he sabotages himself along the way and comes out the other end with a great movie as the result.

Music docs have a checkered history. Dig! might be the best of the recent bunch, but nobody came out of that looking good, lest of all the people it was intended promote. Spinal Tap and A Mighty Wind were at once far too farcical and far too realistic, and really the whole "rockumentary" genre wasn't left with much wiggle room.This isn't a rockumentary. It certainly doesn't provide much of an insight into the National, although there are the odd interview with the lesser members who look, more often than not, drunk or confused or bored. No, this is about the Berninger boys. It's a study of how an overweight college dropout copes in the presence of his universally adored, alpha-male brother. It's very hard not to come out on Tom's side. Matt is aloof, pretentious and very egotistical (although at times he shows immense sensitivity to his brother's latent depression). Tom wants what Matt has. And this film is his personal journey into that. There's a deeply psychoanalytical element to this, which, intended or no, places it above say, Standing in the Shadows of Motown or Dig, which are straight up music profiles.Two scenes stand out for me. One, a drunken conversation between Tom and Matt's wife, both of whom are drunk. She knows that in most battles the alpha male wins. Look who she picked. The second, when Tom screws up and leaves Werner Herzog locked outside an LA gig.This film is terribly made; the director himself admits this. But in the end, for some reason, he's produced a profoundly moving portrayal of two brothers, and a world in which alpha males win. Fans of the National will be relieved to know that their favourites come across as nothing worse than somewhat humourless - a far cry from The Brian Jonestown Massacre. But fans of the National will appreciate the depressive undertones which are beautifully and subtly brought to the foreground.