Jason Isbell in the documentary Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed.
When director Sam Jones started work on his new documentary Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed, he had many goals, but one is particularly relatable to those who watch many of these types of movies.
“The last thing you want is for people to say, that’s another music film about another dude I haven’t heard of,” Jones shared with a laugh during a recent interview about his new project, which arrived on HBO Max earlier this month. The documentary primarily focuses on Isbell, a four-time Grammy winning solo artist and former member of the Drive-By Truckers as he works on new music. That’s a simple enough idea, but the final film ended up being about so much more.
Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed began with an easy-to-understand premise: follow Isbell as he and his band craft his then-upcoming album Reunions. Jones says he was initially interested in the idea after having the singer-songwriter on his own show Off Camera with Sam Jones, and he was a fan of Isbell’s music. “I thought it’d be interesting to make a film where one of the premises was to find out exactly where the material comes from and how much of it is real,” he explained during our conversation. He says he “went in more with some thematic questions, and areas that I wanted to explore,” and that the mere idea of being around a creative like Isbell as he worked his studio magic was enough for him to sign on for a years-long commitment.
That might not sound like much of a film–at least not a very compelling one–but Jones wasn’t worried about that at first. The documentary was self-financed, so selling a pitch wasn’t a concern, and as a seasoned filmmaker with some impressive credits to his name (other docs like Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off, Miles to Go Before I Sleep and the beloved lo-fi Wilco movie I Am Trying to Break Your Heart), his instincts told him that there was likely more to come. And he was right.
While Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed started off documenting the creation of a new album, a different story quickly presented itself, and this is the one that becomes the center of the human story showcased in this compelling film.
“During the making of this film, Jason and Amanda started having real marital issues that stemmed from stuff that they had not dealt with since before they were married,” Jones revealed as he explained how he was able to make such an interesting picture out of a topic that’s largely been done before. “That was what the storyline that emerged from my initial curiosity.”
Not long into Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed, the star and his wife, accomplished violinist Amanda Shires, begin arguing. It’s subtle at first–so subtle that while watching, it can take a while for the viewer to catch on. When I mentioned that to Jones, he was happy to hear it. “One of the most challenging things in [making] this film was the balance of not ratcheting up any of the drama,” he said.
What begins as a few quiet comments and uncomfortable glances soon devolves, and as they work to piece together Reunions, it looks like Isbell and Shires aren’t just having a bad day or two, but that their marriage may be falling apart. At one point, while chatting with his bandmates, Isbell reveals that he’s staying in a hotel.
This personal turmoil is made even more heartbreaking when compared with the divorce of his parents, which features heavily in the album Isbell is working on. He also discusses how he’d normally leave the studio and have a drink to blow off steam, but after losing his job in the Drive-By Truckers due to his overindulgence, he now has to deal with everything that’s going on–his pain, the stress of making music for a large, expectant audience and missing his wife and young daughter–without the aid of substances, and at times, all alone.
The themes explored in Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed are timeless, which is great, as it seems somewhat odd that the documentary is out now. Since filming concluded, Isbell dropped Reunions and has moved on and released another full-length, and yet another is due this summer. If this film was just about the album, it would be very late, but the Duplass Brothers–known as directors, producers and actors in TV shows like The Mindy Project, Transparent, The League, Big Mouth and The Morning Show, and producers on this effort–convinced Jones that it wasn’t just about the music. It was really about these human issues, which made the movie timeless.
On the surface, Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed looks like it might have been easy to make, as it’s mostly studio footage, but looks can be deceiving. Jones had to nearly live in that studio for two weeks while the musicians worked, and then he tracked down Isbell’s parents and former bandmates and got them to trust him enough to open up and share some very painful parts of their past.And then the pandemic hit, which changed how everyone made content at the time. That could have derailed the entire project, but Jones wouldn’t let that happen. “Making a documentary is like pushing a rock uphill,” he mused. “There’s days when people come and help, but basically it’s your rock and you’re the only one that really cares if it gets to the top of the hill.”
The fact that Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed turned out to be as raw and emotional as it did is even more impressive when considering how involved Isbell and Shires were in its creation. While many people would want to hide the ugliness that comes with any marriage, they embraced it, and that is thanks, in part, to Jones’ direction.
“There’s a part in the beginning of the film where Jason says, ‘Look, to do what I do, I have to be willing not to look cool. And I have to be okay with things being out there that don’t make me look cool and don’t paint me in the best light.’” That line of thinking applies to his songwriting, and especially to this movie. Jones didn’t miss that comment, and not only did he hold onto it while making the documentary, he made sure everyone caught it as well.
“I put that in the beginning of the film because I thought it was one of the most beautiful things to say about art and about getting over your self image and all that nonsense,” Jones shared with me. “But I also put it in there so when Jason saw that, it was a reminder that, ‘Hey, guess what? The next hour and a half, you’re not going to look that cool all the time. And you’re not going to be painted in the best light. But you said it!’”
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2023/04/17/jason-isbells-documentary-looks-like-its-about-music-but-its-really-about-so-much-more/