Found this on the internet originally it was titled imagined:
Imagined is loosely inspired by a real letter Lennon wrote to British folk singer Steve Tilston. (Tilston also never received the letter until many years later, but he never went quite so musically astray.)
I just thought the same. Hollywood playing mind games again to get attention
shareThanks for the reference. Never heard of him though I am pretty close to his age. Just listened to him playing "Madame Muse" on YouTube. Worth a listen, really.
shareHere is a link to an article in The Telegraph on Steve's letter.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/music-news/7946804/John-Lenno n-letter-to-aspiring-folk-singer-received-nearly-four-decades-later.ht ml
You can't palm off a second-rater on me. You gotta remember I was in the pink!
Very loosely based on the Tilston story. I saw one of the preview screenings. It doesn't seem that the actual character is based on Tilston, just the tidbit about the John Lennon letter. Instead of being an English folk singer-songwriter and guitarist like Tilston, Pacino's character is an American vocalist (and pianist) more in the style of Neil Diamond. Maybe hints of "The Jazz Singer" in this movie, but mostly in the similar styles between Pacino's character and Neil Diamond.
share[deleted]
For those who are interested: There's a scene right where the credits starts to roll where the actual Steve Tilston talks about his experience.
shareJust judging by the trailer the character reminds me of Rod Stewart, I mean all those hits/classics albums he has released, estranged kid, etc. But they probably merged lots of singers into one to create Danny.
sharePacino's characters big hit "Baby Doll" reminded me immediately of "Sweet Caroline", so I assumed the film makers were thumbing their noses to Neil Diamond.
shareHere's more on the real guy, Steve Tilston, plus John Lennon's original letter that was lost for 34 years.
http://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/danny-collins/
Interesting that John included his phone number, so he might've heard from Tilston, but then, never did -- and never knew the real reason why! I suppose Yoko's been told about it, though, what with a movie being made about it an' all.
shareI saw this movie yesterday and give it a 4 out of 10. Pacino's acting/over-acting, the never-ending bar scene b/w Pacino & Benning, the lack of important reference and focal point of the letter (it seemed belittled), I think this is a movie that goes over much better the second viewing. Glad I saw this at a matinee. Sorry.
shareIMO Pacino always overacts. It's the reason I never really liked him as an actor. I always get the feeling he thinks he's doing the audience a favor showing off his mad skills.
I'd probably like this movie a lot more if someone else were cast in his place.
Idiot.
shareDid you notice Yoko Ono's name listed in the credits? Yep.
shareIts in the credits always watch the credits you never know what will be there
share"Who is this based on?"
Hmmm... That's a bit of a toughie...
The part about the letter from Lennon was DEFINATELY about little-known early 70's folk singer Steve Tilston.
But Steve Tilston never went on to become a commercial success.
Instead the filmmaker's have chosen to have Danny's character go on to be a bit of a Neil Diamond-type character.
FOR EXAMPLE:
1.He's known for adult contemporary/easy listening-type standards.
2.Flamboyant dresser (...maybe not so much now with Neil - but remember all those spangly shirts from The Jazz Singer era?)
3.The silhouette-dominated movie poster for this film looks an awful lot like the poster for "The Jazz Singer".
4. His current audience consists of mostly older women.
5.Did you hear how much his biggest hit "Hey Baby Doll" sounded exactly like "Sweet Caroline"? (You could sing one on top of the other.)
6.It's implied that Danny's many hits were never really all that critically acclaimed and that he was generally regarded by critics as "a lightweight".
Having said that I feel almost obligated to apologize to Neil Diamond for that comparison. While the points made above were definite similarities between the two, there are also big differences:
1.Danny's character hasn't written a new song in 30+ years whereas 3 of the last 4 Neil Diamond albums have contained all new original material and have been probably the most critically acclaimed of his entire career. (His 2008 "Home Before Dark" album even got to #1 and last year's "Melody Road" debuted at #2 on the Billboard Album charts.)
2.The drug & alcohol problems that Danny has have NOTHING to do with Neil Diamond.
P.S. Just for the record, I personally have NEVER considered Neil Diamond "a lightweight" but I know there are a good many critics out there who have.
Since Hollywood produces fiction, the phrase based on a true story can mean anything as tenuous as: "I was desperate for a good story to pay the bills, so I threw this one together. The genesis of the story was my desperation. Therefore my story is based on real events; my desperation as the cause of my making the story up, the fact it was a story. All true, all facts. Except none of it is part of nor in the story.
That is how loosely "inspired by a true story" can be used to describe a story in hollywood these days.
Yes, it is based on a true story. During the ending credits the real Danny Collins speaks during an interview.
share