- Network: MGM+
- Series Premiere Date: Mar 17, 2024
Critic Reviews
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Gibney devotes so much time to it [the album "Graceland"], especially when documenting a stadium-concert performance of it in Zimbabwe, that this is the one part of the documentary that could have used more of the cross-cutting spirit that animates the rest of film. “In Restless Dreams” is not a perfect movie, yet it takes us on a journey in the deepest and most transporting sense.
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Conspicuous back-half omissions keep In Restless Dreams from merely being damn near the definitive Paul Simon documentary as opposed to the definitive one. Then again, Gibney isn’t trying to be comprehensive.
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Gibney, known for docs like Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room and Taxi to the Dark Side, threads Simon’s past and present into a graceful whole.
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An unabashed celebration of musical genius that’s at its best when looking back. Spanning 3 ½ hours, director Alex Gibney spends a bit too much time on Simon today, but it’s still a fitting tribute to a talent who, to quote his song, went looking for America, and had America and indeed the world find him in return.
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What most will likely agree on is that Mr. Gibney's film, being presented over two nights and almost four hours, isn't long enough. You can feel the acceleration in episode 2, when an hour and a quarter has gone by and this very tuneful, very poignant portrait finally arrives at "Graceland."
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People not already interested in Simon will probably want a different film. For anyone else, In Restless Dreams is fascinating and lively from start to finish. Running three and a half hours, it never feels padded.
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“In Restless Dreams” captures Simon in both modes, for better more than for worse—a reverential doc about an iconic musician.
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