Allison Anders’ beloved 1996 riff on the life of a not-Carole King played by the incomparable Illeana Douglas occupies a weird space in music film.
To some, it’s an example of what 30 Rock called the Jackie Jormp-Jomp syndrome — making a biopic without the life rights or songs of an artist. But that’s not really accurate, because what Anders ended up creating is something weirder and more electric than any traditional biopic could have been. It was for this film that the partnership between Burt Bacharach and Elvis Costello began. It was for this film that Brill Building elders and cutting-edge ’90s rock voices worked together to create an entire alternate history of American music. (Personal faves: Lesley Gore finally getting to write her lesbian torch song “My Secret Love,” almost-forgotten girl group For Real with “Unwanted Number” and “I Do,” and Kristen Vigard’s devastating takes on “Boat on a Sea” and “God Give Me Strength.”)
You can play the game of “Who is this person really supposed to be?” if you want to, but doing so means you miss the joy and insanity of this singular American indie. Songwriter/musician and music journalist Bill DeMain will introduce the 8 p.m. screening.
