I Am Trying To Break Your Heart

Sam Jones had many tough decisions to make when his innocent documentary about a great band making a new album turned into the most dramatic music biz story of the last decade. Is it a film about Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot album? Their live show? Their internal dramas? The music business at large? The original 92-minute film seemed to exclude too many sides of the story to be a definitive statement. Yet when placed in context of the 80 hours of footage Jones had, and informed by his exhaustive director's notes in the booklet, it's much easier to forgive him his omissions and give Jones and editor Erin Nordstrom full credit for being able to piece together a coherent narrative film. There's over 70 minutes of extra footage on this two-disc set, but none of it delves further into the drama, i.e., Ken Coomer's departure, the Jay Bennett turmoil (the film remains a Tweedy love-in), or the biz stuff. Most of it is live material of dubious cinematic quality: some is from a Tweedy solo show and some is uninspired rehearsal footage where Wilco appears nervous testing out its new post-Jay Bennett line-up, with the exception being a delicate "Radio Cures." It's the backstage acoustic performances of "Someday Soon," "How to Fight Loneliness" and primo unreleased material such as "Magazine Called Sunset" that make the extras worthwhile. There's also a commentary track with Jones and the four remaining members, which is more silly than insightful, with Tweedy making repeated self-conscious cracks about the size of his ass. During the Bennett/Tweedy mixing showdown, someone in the band asks, "Can we fast forward this?" It does, however, allow Jones to ask them some supplementary questions with 20/20 hindsight. Ultimately, whether it's a great film or not, Wilco fans for generations to come will have Jones to thank for overcoming logistical, personal and financial odds to leave us with this valuable time capsule, capturing a fascinating band during a rich period. Extras: commentary by Sam Jones and Wilco; theatrical trailer; additional songs; live footage of Wilco and Tweedy; making of. (Plexifilm/Sonic Unyon)