Kiefer Sutherland Movie:

		List Price: $19.98		Label: First Independent Salesrank: 53796 Released: January 9, 2007
		Our Price: $2.99
		Used Price: $2.33
		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
Kiefer Sutherland, star of the hit TV show "24" takes his indie record label act, Rocco DeLuca & the Burden on the road for their first international tour. From Los Angeles to Europe, this highly personal journey chronicles a rock band & their less than qualified road manager, Kiefer Sutherland, and the hopes, successes and disappointments of a band trying to get their music to their audience.

Description of I Trust You to Kill Me:
It's too bad Jack Bauer was busy solving an international terrorist crisis. As seen with unflinching eyes in this wickedly entertaining documentary, Kiefer Sutherland could have used the organizational powers of his 24-star alter-ego to help him with his duties as road manager of a burgeoning rock band. Sutherland is exposed as steadfast devotee of Rocco DeLuca & The Burden as he tries his best to manage the details of the band's brief winter, 2005 tour of Europe. In addition to his career as a famous actor, Sutherland is also co-founder of the indie record label Ironworks Music, and as I Trust You to Kill Me proves, he's clearly the #1 fan of Ironworks' up-and-comers Rocco DeLuca & The Burden. The band's tour of small clubs took them to London, Dublin, Reykjavík, Berlin, and points in between. Director Manu Boyer lets his camera linger over the best and worst of it all. Some of the worst is of Sutherland as he ineptly (but utterly sincerely) tries to pump the band up at every opportunity, whether it's doing radio promos, hauling heavy amps into a London nightclub in the freezing cold, or slyly handing out tickets in Dublin pubs and street corners for an undersold show. It's hilarious to see him simultaneously exploiting and enjoying his celebrity status with passersby--some of whom know who he is, others only vaguely realizing that they ought to know who he is. Director Boyer also does some nosy prodding into Sutherland's private life, especially after he's hefted a few pints (the clip of Sutherland taking a drunken running dive into the Christmas tree in a posh London hotel was brief a YouTube smash after the film first aired on VH-1). We see the crawling-up end of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle from Sutherland's point of view and from the band's. Though it's certainly not the best rock concert movie, there is some terrific footage of The Burden performing their bloozy brand of rock behind DeLuca's raw wail. In spite of Sutherland's "help," the band may have a good chance at gaining a following. I Trust You to Kill Me (the title of The Burden's first album) documents both a personal journey for Kiefer Sutherland and a glimpse at the hardscrabble of a band clawing their way up. On both counts it's great fun and a terrific piece of rock 'n' roll entertainment. --Ted Fry

I Trust You to Kill Me Reviews:
I loved this behind the scenes
2009-05-26 - I am not only a huge Kiefer Sutherland fan but also a Rocco DeLuca fan. This is a great behind the scenes documentary. I love that it shows the real Kiefer. I will watch this over and over.

Really Good Road Trip Rockumentary
2009-03-04 - I Trust You to Kill Me follows Rocco DeLuca and the Burden on their whirlwind European tour in an attempt to gain some sort of listener following. Rocco Deluca and the Burden are an alternative rock back hoping to restore rock `n' roll to its original form. They've signed with Ironworks the label of Kiefer Sutherland of 24 and Young Guns fame (ahahaha...Young Guns...hahah); Ironworks, though a small label has a few other artists of repute including the sensational Lifehouse.

This documentary follows the band through their ins and outs as they travel from London, to Dublin, and even to Reykjavik, Iceland. The entire time the documentary struggles to find an even balance between its focus on Kiefer, the pseudo-narrator of the film due to his manager status for the Burden, and the band itself. We see a lot of Kiefer talking to the camera about his hopes and ambitions for Rocco and his praiseful explanation as to why he chose this band over others to symbolize his music label. While the film starts out following Kiefer on the set of 24, it quickly snaps into gear and establishes its course.

Rocco and the Burden face challenges ranging from being billed under Rocco and the Cheap Hotels, overly high admission prices, and poor crowd receptions. For the first 45 minutes or so, the situation looks bleak. The documentary's pace picks up though with the humorous situation of Kiefer and company walking through town trying to get anyone to come to a free concert (this is where his reputation as Jack Bauer pays off). I'm not quite sure where it comes from, but it's around this time that a man in a bunny outfit begins traveling with the band and advertising for them.

I Trust You to Kill Me is another installment in increasingly common "rockumentary" genre that's begun to emerge, and when it takes the time it definitely does a fine job of showcasing the band's talents. Rocco DeLuca's guitar stems from an Appalachian tradition of bluegrass and blues with melodic guitar strumming and vocal talents easily altered according to the song giving the band a dynamic sound and wide range in music genres. While Kiefer cites Rocco as the best guitarist he's ever seen, the claim seems a bit much. Don't get me wrong, Rocco's good and his music can be beautiful...but realistically he's only so good.

The documentary barely skims the surface of the players' personal lives preferring instead to keep the tone light and cheerful only dipping into the more intense melodrama of intra-band politics when Kiefer is willing to bring it up. The movie is in fact about Rocco DeLuca and the burden but only so much so as Kiefer lets it be.

As far as extras go, the DVD includes 3 music videos with a few clips of tour footage and the rest filled in with Rocco looking sorrowful and deep on his guitar.

If you're a fan of rockumentaries then definitely pick this one up. The story of how a no-name band creates a following for itself in Europe is encouraging and fun to watch. For those of you with no previous experience in this genre, I Trust You To Kill Me is an accessible entryway into a very interesting world. And if you're solely interested in the music aspect, I'd encourage you to pick up the group's CD from Ironworks with the same title as this film.

Never would have heard of the band if I hadn't seen this....
2008-03-10 - I actually picked this DVD up at the local video store. I saw Keifer on the cover and being the 24 fan that I am I read the description on the back of the DVD and thought "Why not", so I rented it. I was impressed by this documentary. I thought it was cool seeing Keifer drunk; he's hilarious. If there was one person in the world I would like to spend the day with, it would be him. But, the main attraction in my oppinion is definitely Rocco Deluca & The Burden. I love their southern fried sound! I probably never would have heard of them if I hadn't taken a chance on this DVD. I love Rocco's unique voice. The band member's are great at what they do. I eventually bought this DVD because I liked it so much. I would love to see them live. Overall I definitely believe this is worth 5 stars.

meh
2008-02-08 - i dont think it was worth the $20 i paid for it. I was under the impression it was more about kiefer than the band he was promoting, so i was wrong there.

the new led zeppelin for this century
2007-12-31 - the doc is excellent and the music is of course rocca de luca and the burden; even the music that is not performed live is their music. i'm predicting right now in 2007 that this band will be the next led zeppelin of this century.