Too much of everything

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

In the sea of young upcoming actors, Heath Ledger was unique. Like Patrick Swayze, I remember where I was when I heard about his passing. It was a bombshell, let me tell ya. I honestly thought my ears were that January summer day, on the way to the beach. This excellent top form documentary recounts his life, and his real self, away from the camera, catching those truest of moments. We are introduced to a variety of other close friends, U.S. and of course more Australian, all mostly actors, where we learn't this multi talented artist dabbled in other things, including song writing, directing and etc. We of course hear a little bit of his method acting approaches as well as snippets, from an impressive C.V of films in a less than ten year span, his joker, his greatest and unbelievably brilliant feat. If still alive, I know we would of seen much great acting work and accolades, awards, what have you,from him. It would of been good to see younger work from this actor, like his five day Home And Away stint, but I think more actors who have risen high about that, don't want to visit original territory, and put their H a A days way behind em'. Ledger himself, said, "you won't learn much about acting, spending 5 days on Home And Away". I solely agree, for here is an actor, a role model, for accepting challenges, and going all out to achieve your dream. The greatest inspiration to budding actors, this guy is, who like James Dean, lived fast and died young, a waste of what was so much more to come. Absorbing, and involving viewing from start to finish. For H L fans, a must see, and a trifle bit, memorably sad, in it's final minutes, as in the actor's short lived life himself.

'I AM HEATH LEDGER': Three Stars (Out of Five) A documentary remembering the life, and career, of actor Heath Ledger; through interviews with his family and friends. It was directed by Adrian Buitenhuis and Derik Murray, while Hart Snider wrote the screenplay. Interviews include Naomi Watts, Ang Lee, Ben Mendelsohn, Djimon Hounsou, Emile Hirsch, Catherine Hardwicke, Ben Harper and many others. Considering the subject matter, I was hoping for a lot more. Still the movie isn't a complete waste of time.The film chronicles the acting career of Heath Ledger, and his life during that time, through interviews with his friends and family. Most of his friends interviewed are other people in the film (or music) industry, that he worked with. There's also video that Heath filmed of himself, with his own personal camera. The movie centers on his life from the time he first got into the movie business, until his death.The stories that Heath's friends and family tell about him are interesting, and you can definitely tell he was greatly loved, but I don't think this movie really gives you a strong idea of what Heath was really like. It's all told from other people's perspectives, and the video he filmed of himself is not very insightful at all. I wish there was more video of Heath doing some of the things described by his friends, that actually gives the viewer more of an idea of who he actually was. I also wish some more intimate people in his life (like Michelle Williams, their daughter, or Jake Gyllenhaal) would have participated in this documentary as well. The film is at least never boring though.Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: https://youtu.be/W6So6Kz52VQ

I am a huge fan of Heath. I actually discovered him when he was already dead. He struck me and enchanted me, and I suffered a Heath's fever that lasted more than a year. I bought all his (16) films, and saw all his TV series. I also spent more than 3 months writing an article about him. Today, my obsession is gone, but the admiration will always be there. So, I was eagerly waiting for that new documentary about him. I watched it with my husband (who fell asleep) on our cinema projector, and, although the documentary is beautiful and touching, I must say I was a bit disappointed. I wanted more of Heath the actor. I think that the documentary tends to forget why do we all love Heath. We love him because of his movies. We love him because of his art. Also, the image we get from Heath is not multidimensional. Heath was human, and, as amazing as he was, I am sure he also had many flows, like all of us, but nobody dares to mention any of them. I.A.H.L. has a very personal touch. Heath's friends, ex-girlfriends, parents, and sisters talk about him with love and admiration, but, in my opinion, other angles are missing. I missed more directors & actors taking about Heath's art. I would have loved to see and hear Jake Gyllenhaall, Nolan, Bale, Rose Byrne, Bryan Brown, Gregor Jordan, Stiles, Gordon-Levitt, Haynes, Cornish, Rush, Gilliam, and Damon taking about Heath. Also, many of Heath's films are simply missing: Two Hands, The Sin Eater, The Brothers Grimm, Casanova, and Candy are just not there. Why? It's not that Heath made 100 films and you can easily omit 5 of them. He only made 16 films, some better than others, OK, but I definitely think that they all should have been there. Also, I.A.H.L. does not even mention the roles Heath took in some TV series, and his uncredited appearances in some movies. Before his first big role for the big screen (Two Hands), Heath appeared in 1992 (at the age of 13) in the movie Clowning Around as an orphan clown (uncredited) and in 1993–1994 in 3 episodes of the TV series Ship to Shore as a cyclist and as an actor. In 1996 he appeared in 26 episodes of the TV series Sweat as Snowy Bowles, a gay cyclist (yes, gay!), and, in 1997, in 11 episodes of the TV series Home and Away as Scott Irwin, and small roles in Blackrock (as Toby) and in Paws (as Oberon). The documentary only mentions Roar (an American production –13 episode TV series– shot in Australia) where Heath stars as Conor (which is a quite bad series, despite Heath's smile). And, what about Heath's death? That is mentioned only by passing. Well, we don't have to get stuck on his death, we don't have to see again those horrible photos of Heath's body covered by a black sheet carried by policemen out of his apartment that the media loved to show time and again the days after he died... but to talk a bit about his death, to through some light about his sudden end, would not have hurt, don't you agree? The only thing we can feel in the documentary is the fact that Heath was not depressed the days prior to his death, that he was full of projects and wishes, but that already was said by Terry Gilliam and others years ago. Heath died at the age of 28 due to an accidental overdose of prescription pills –a combination of 6 different painkillers, sleeping pills and anti- anxiety pills. A real lethal cocktail indeed. Today he would be 38 years old. Although his life wasn't easy by the time of his death, Heath had a strong love for life and was full of projects. Heath suffered from insomnia. In addition, he had a strong backache and a chest infection the days prior to his death that didn't allow him to sleep. Heath had several types of pills prescribed by doctors from different countries. Although no pill taken on its own was extremely dangerous, the combination of all together proved to be lethal. He took 6 pills (which is a lot), but he didn't take 30, which is common in suicides. Heath died probably without suffering. He just stopped breathing. His death was purely accidental. A missing figure in the documentary is the mother of Heath's daughter. That did not surprised me, because I never found Ms. Williams generous to share anything about Heath with Heath's fans (but, still, she didn't have anything nice to say about him? Weird). Not that she was more special than all the others girlfriends of Heath, but she is the mother of his daughter. Heath had many girlfriends and none lasted more than 2 years. To fall in love is not difficult. What it is difficult is to keep the love, year after year, and that was something that Heath didn't know to do or didn't want to do, because he kept having short relationships one after the other. There are two ex- girlfriends of Heath who are generous enough to talk in the documentary about Heath, which are Cauchi and Watts. A nice thing about I.A.H.L. is that the documentary finally puts emphasis in the creative side of Heath as a photographer, video camera man, and director of video clips. Heath also created a music label called Masses Music Co. (known as The Masses) and directed several music videos.The worst: the lack of directors and actors taking about Heath, the one-dimensional view, the missing movies and TV series, and the fact that the DVD does not have English subtitles (so deaf people are punished without being able to enjoy it). The best: the unseen footage, and the human and personal touch.

I believe with this piece of work, we finally have taken off heaths mask that he portrayed himself as the Joker. We now see a side to heath that the world had to see. I believe it leaves the light on who he was as a artist and just how he was able to tackle and perfect not only the joker in dark knight, but also how he was a father, a friend loved by many and a creative individual who shocked the 21st century with what method acting was really about. The devastating and sudden death that rocked the world just around ten years ago had a huge impact on many. I found this project as an interesting and insightful one. Right from the beginning there is close personal creative genius from this guy. If you think Heath ledger-the actor? Incorrect. The love of film and photography is evident throughout, along with home videos of heath turning the camera on himself and friends. Footage of Heath acting along the best actors in the business, we see the humanity in Heath and just how he was human, he did suffer from the constant overwhelming fame, and in my opinion enjoyed his work rather than his benefits from it. Creating film was heaths love. Also we see a insight into how heath found his wife and love in his tender years that he did live. I believe this documentary went to a place that needed to be searched when we think about the guy that was Heath Ledger. Heath was a guy who lived life to the fullest and never really took a break because of his love for film. Alongside Dean, Brando and Day-Lewis, Heath Ledger was an iconic method actor, that held qualities of a rare breed and should be a image for young actors today. The ethos of this entire documentary holds this idea I believe.