Bittersweet Motel (2000)

Bittersweet Motel is a documentary about the popular rock band Phish. The film focuses on Phish's music, with little emphasis on their die-hard fan base.

Director:

Todd Phillips

Stars:

Trey Anastasio, Jon Fishman, Mike Gordon

Cast

Credited cast:
Trey Anastasio	...	Himself
Jon Fishman	...	Himself
Mike Gordon	...	Himself
Page McConnell	...	Himself

Storyline

This film follows the band, Phish, through a year of its life; from the Great Went concert in Limestone, ME in August 1997 through the subsequent touring in the next year, leading up to August 1998. The director, Todd Phillips, said, "We weren't looking to make 'Tie-Dyed'; I wanted to concentrate on the music."

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Plot Keywords:

phish | rock band | rock music | rocker

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Official Sites:

Image Entertainment

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 July 2001 (Netherlands)

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$38,454 (USA) (25 August 2000)

Gross:

$380,927 (USA) (8 December 2000)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Aviva Entertainment, Bittersweet Films, Little Villa Features

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

Mike Gordon: I think I just learned a thing or two about bartering.

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Connections

References Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992)

User Reviews

Flawed, but entertaining, uplifting and insightful nonetheless

This documentary of the travelin' band Phish is above and beyond a lot of "rockumentaries" out there. It purports to lend audiences a behind-the-scenes look at the band on tour, and does so as promised. A lot of people have said that they're relieved the documentary didn't focus on the band's somewhat infamous, huge fan base that follows Phish on tour. I agree that the lack of "fan" interviews was a refreshing surprise, but was annoyed to find that the few phans they did talk to were complete and utter morons: there was harmonica boy, the horny frat-pack, tripping groupie harassing Trey Anastasio, and lamely objectified nitrous-huffing girl. Ugh. It would've been nice if they'd balanced them out with some thoughtful, intelligent phan commentary. I know these people exist; I myself followed Phish on tour for a short period a year or so before this multi-tour documentary was made.

That aside, though, I enjoyed the live concert footage (nice that the filmmakers chose to play most of the songs all the way through, instead of providing lots of mere snippets), the backstage banter (a lot of it gut-wrenchingly funny, at least to me) and the coverage of the group's much ballyhooed European tour. Especially liked that the band had fun with the fact that a documentary was being made of them--gotta love the staged "accidental" fellatio going on behind closed doors--despite the fact that they obviously weren't always thrilled to have a camera crew tailing their every move. One caveat: wish Trey hadn't been such a primary focus. I mean, he's entertaining, but so are the other guys.

The editing isn't fabulous, but it's good enough.

One more thing: Even if you're not a "phan," you'll probably enjoy this film. You may even develop an undiscovered appreciation for Phish's evident creative talent, sense of humor and impressive musical chops. My husband had no real love for Phish before seeing this, and still doesn't really, but was glad he saw it nonetheless. As for folks who dig the band, this documentary is a real gem you'll probably want to get on video when it's released.