buddy holly story

One could view Gary Busey as a casualty of today’s celebrity obsessed culture or a shrewd manipulator of the same. Like a reality TV star, his fame springs from a twisted version of his own personality. Just how twisted is the question. A motorcycle accident in 1988 left him with serious brain damage and his eccentricities began to define him more than the roles themselves. So much so that popular culture has almost wiped his best performance, as Buddy Holly in The Buddy Holly Story (1978), from its collective consciousness.

Rebounding from a cancelled project that had cast him Holly’s drummer, the actor lost 33 pounds to take on the lead role as the rock and roll phenomenon who died in a tragic plane crash at the age of 22. The film’s most energetic scenes feature Busey performing several of Holly’s songs live in various settings. No lip-synching, no back-up tracks, just Busey and his fellow actor / musicians (Don Stroud and Charles Martin Smith) belting out raucous versions of the original tunes.

The energy created in these concert film sequences comes from director Steve Rash’s unobtrusive style, relinquishing full control to Busey and company. Unfortunately, whenever the boys aren’t on stage, the film putters along like a rough demo track. Holly’s unexpected fame playing “negro” music is good for some dramatic moments, like his debut as the first white act ever to play the historic Apollo Theater. But even these plot points pass by with a tepid lack of impact, shot on bland Laverne & Shirley-style sets and edited with a curious lack of rhythm.

As explained in the commentary track featuring Rash and Busey, much of this can be blamed on the low-budget and rushed schedule which in the concert scenes bring a sort of accidental authenticity to the proceedings. Busey commands the stage (and screen) with the confidence of a veteran performer. And in those moments, his ten-year age difference doesn’t matter a lick. It’s why he earned an Academy Award Nomination his first time out of the gate. If only the film around him had the same sort of exuberance.

Twilight Time makes great use of the company’s isolated score track, highlighting what is easily the best part of the film. Rash and Busey’s commentary is carried over from a previous release and is an essential listen. The hi-def transfer itself looks a bit aged at first but seems to inexplicably improve as it goes along. The 3000 copy limited edition is available to order exclusively at .