Sweetwater (1999)

A lot of fun.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

When I first heard of this movie coming on VH1 my instinct was ok it look OK...well the thing that made me want to watch was that i'm a big fan of Amy Jo Johnson...i thought why not...So i taped it because I was going to be out that night...the next day i sat down to watch it...I was taken aback...the music was great and the story was heartwrenching...to think that a band as cool, great and completely ahead of their time could be completely demolished because of one tragic accident...the acting was great and the story was told with dignity and grace about the tragic rise and fall of this great band...After this movie i've seached the internet for sites on Sweetwater and for Albums that i could purchase or bid on...so far i haven't found much...but i always have the movie to remind me of this legendary band.

I just finished watching this TV movie & couldn't believe that people hadn't already began to comment about it. I loved it, personally. Amy Jo Johnson shows she's more than Julie (of "Felicity"), giving a wonderful performance. I have to admit, the working in of the reporter's storyline seemed a little inappropriate. They barely touched it, but tried to make it seem like a big thing. All in all, this was really good, I thought.

Nansi was cheated from her dream. When her band became "it" tragedy struck. She continued to fight to keep in the buisness. Because she was "a singer [she] played for half a million people and 20 times that much on TV." It really was a good movie, whether you are into the 60's thing or not.

I was intrigued when I heard that the music channel VH-1 had chosen the band Sweetwater as the subject for its first original movie production. After all, a band which didn't even get their 15 minutes of fame and who 99% of the potential viewers never even heard of wasn't exactly what one would have guessed would be their first project. As it turns out, there was a story worth telling about the rise and fall of this band who never got anywhere near the top, but did hit rock bottom.Lest anyone doubt it, Sweetwater actually did create quite a buzz for a brief time with their exciting live appearances, especially at the large rock festivals in the summer of 1969. However, their first album release failed to capture that live energy and the multi-ethnic band with the flutist and cellist quickly dropped from view. What most fans never knew was that Nansi Nevins, the lead singer of this 7-piece group with a Caribbean/Latin jazz flavor, was in a serious auto accident not that long after their Woodstock appearance, an accident which greatly diminished her singing voice. The band struggled on for a while, but without her identity and visual focus as well as vocal talent they had no future.Nevins' story is the focus of the movie and she hits the skids after her accident in true rock star fashion, but she is redeemed eventually. Amy Jo Johnson plays her and does her own singing. As a co-star on 'Felicity' she sometimes gets the chance to sing as well, but those are usually quiet introspective songs and she probably relished the chance to belt out a few tunes for this film.The problem, though, is that this is a TV-movie, and almost by definition that means a more bland, homogenized product than a theatrical release. The compelling true story helps ameliorate this built-in shortcoming and, all things considered, it was a decent flick.In a newspaper review of this film there was the suggestion that the backers of this movie had some sort of financial interest in promoting the recently reformed Sweetwater's comeback and that this movie was part of that effort. I don't know if the same sort of standards we apply to politicians and such apply here, but it is a potentially sticky situation. On the other hand, one could hardly think of a less lucrative moneymaking vehicle than this band, based on their past track record. I am grateful that someone took a chance on this rather arcane subject matter; we could use more of that from television. On balance, I'm glad they made 'Sweetwater,' the movie.