GLEN CAMPBELL ... I'LL BE ME

Documentary film follows singer's Alzheimer's battle

A movie about one of Arkansas' favorite sons now making the rounds of film festivals had its Arkansas premiere. Glen Campbell ... I'll Be Me was shown at the Central Arkansas Library System's Ron Robinson Theater ahead of its fall release.

Snippets of the unfinished documentary were first shown at the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival in 2012, but July 10's showing was the final cut, and it played to a full house, more than 300. Many family members of the famous singer/songwriter from Delight were in attendance, as was another famous Arkansan, actress Tess Harper.

The film follows Campbell, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, as he and his family are on the road performing a goodbye tour. Director-producer James Keach said the film was not just about Campbell, though, "but the whole family and how they take care of him."

"It was so uplifting to go to these shows and see the audience watching him. Instead of judging him, they became part of the whole experience."

"We are a very ageist culture," fellow producer Trevor Albert explained in a question and answer session after the show moderated by Arkansas Motion Picture Institute director Courtney Pledger. "We are not used to seeing people over 50 kicking ass, might I say, and I think it is inspiring to anyone -- not just with Alzheimer's -- to see, here's a guy in his 70s with a disease that is incurable and he is still out there and rocking."

Keach noted that even the shows where Campbell had difficulty were good. "You'd see his genius every once in a while," he said referring to a scene where Campbell plays a guitar solo at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn.

"I've seen it a thousand times and it gets me every time. Here's a guy with Alzheimer's, and he's just shredding it."

The evening ended with members of the Campbell family, in beautiful harmony, singing a medley of Campbell's popular songs, followed by an invitation to the audience to sing with them their final song, "Amazing Grace."

-- Story and photos by Cary Jenkins

High Profile on 07/20/2014

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