Willie Nelson has made a few good movies in his time but now sings of doing it again. It’s unlikely that he’ll do another. No Songwriter sequel is in the pipeline, but with We’d Make a Good Movie, we get more of that late-stage career wistfulness from one of the best country stars around. A classy country sound is what Nelson has offered in the twilight years of his career. Once you sift through the shock of hearing him in good form at the age of ninety-two, you can get to grips with another touching, laid-back piece from the veteran songwriter. We’d Make a Good Movie features notes of Academy Awards, of stories told on the big screen, and what he would want people to see of him and his loved ones should he make a return to film. He won’t, it’s just out of his hands at this point, but it’s nice to dream along with Nelson on this slow and moving song, another solid draw for Dream Chaser.
We’d Make a Good Movie uses that heartfelt connectivity Nelson so often deploys. They never quite hit that punchy brilliance of his best works but the fact he can still push out a contemporary, reliable song, is good enough. Nelson has offered plenty of charming commentaries in his time and it’s no different now as he builds toward Dream Chaser. Nelson is likely the only artist who does not need to do more than he’s doing right now. He’s already checked off everything you could want to achieve in country music and the many subgenres he dragged it through, but even then, he pushes on. There’s a sense of achievement within We’d Make a Good Movie that features in more recent offerings from the country legend, and it’s not just because of his longevity. Keeping his voice in good form for this long, having the interest to keep writing and recording, it’s not a definite for everyone. Those who do keep on must maintain at least a level of interest in what they’re singing of, and for Nelson, it’s reminiscent charms.
You’re hardly going to return to these latter-stage efforts from Nelson, though they’re nice enough to spend some time with. We must remember not to take this work for granted, though. A light and loose song about making a movie is an easy-going practice from Nelson. It’s likeable enough to listen to from time to time, but the sheer volume of better works makes it hard to warrant returning to. Even then, We’d Make a Good Movie is of a familiar standard in Nelson’s work, a sound and style which he has banked for decades now. In the last few years alone, between covers of Merle Haggard and The Flaming Lips, is a constantly growing urge to write and record music that moves him. It, in turn, moves listeners.
Even just a little shift or a prod in the direction of the heartfelt is now enough for Nelson. His latter days in the studio has been a blast to listen to, and he shows no sign of stopping. It now appears to be the reason for him to get up in the morning, and long may that continue. An effective and fun track, serving more as a palette cleanser before a Bob Dylan collaboration than anything else. A song about making a movie is nice enough and to hear Nelson in such hearty form is a real treat. Not a rare one, though, he has issued enough quality in the last few years that dedicated listeners will now assume this is par for the course. It is, but don’t let that make it feel any less special than it is. We’d Make a Good Movie rings of a truth never to be fulfilled. Nelson would probably make a good movie again, but he’s hardly going to spend time scriptwriting and producing now, not when he’s got so many unfinished songs to piece together.
