SXSW Film Reviews

The Sweetest Sound

In The Sweetest Sound, director Berliner explores his obsession with names, most specifically, his own name and the fact that he must share it with at least 12 other Alan (or Allen or Allan ...) Berliners in the world. How has their name affected them? Do they have transcendental connections, like twins separated at birth? Is a name a sort of cosmic predestination? Berliner gives us his own whimsical, neurotic, contemplative, and exhaustive views on the subject and throws in those of a few relatives and men and women on the street as well. He also invites all of the other Alan Berliners to dinner to further explore the matter. Insightful, hilarious, silly, and slightly alarming (at least for people whose names begin with letters at the end of the alphabet), The Sweetest Sound is a feast of oddball trivia, engaging personalities, and rhythmical visual imagery. It is such a good time and its host so charming that I can't help wishing that my name were Alan Berliner, so that I might be invited to dinner, too. (Dobie, 3/17, 5:30pm)