- Directed by
- Ethan Hawke
- Produced by
- Ryan Hawke, Jeremy Coon, Jason Fine
- Edited by
- Barry Poltermann
- Production Partners
- Mercury Productions, Rolling Stone Films
As a filmmaker and novelist, Ethan Hawke often celebrates the lives of artists, acknowledging their messy humanity while honoring their creative gifts. “Highway 99: A Double Album” is a three-hour tribute to Merle Haggard, the legendary country singer-songwriter who gave the world numerous working-class anthems while battling a darkness he could never overcome. The film is divided into two parts and organized around a track list of roughly 30 Haggard songs played by the likes of Norah Jones, Sturgill Simpson and others. Driving through California on Highway 99 — an iconic stretch of road that connects many different chapters of Haggard’s life — Hawke muses on the musician’s legacy, reads aloud from his memoir and speaks to performers from the worlds of country, punk, jazz and hip-hop to understand why Haggard’s music resonates so widely.
A heartfelt, trenchant and long-overdue screen immortalization. Hawke goes to the tender, conflicted heart of Merle Haggard in the rich documentary he’s deserved.
A tribute that you won’t be able to resist. Anyone willing to take this journey with Hawke will be rewarded, tapping into something that’s hard to describe.
A rousing and soulful pilgrimage. Not every documentarian’s first-person contributions enrich the proceedings, but here the quest hits all the right notes, and the gathering of voices feels like a place to begin rather than a mere summing-up.
Sprawling and emotional, Highway 99 is a layered tribute highlighted by a series of performers covering Haggard’s songs while discussing his impact as an authentic, irreplaceable musical figure.
The interview subjects can be honest and even tough at times; there’s no whitewashing going on, but it should come as no surprise that most everybody is here to praise one of country’s greatest songwriters and singers. Revelations are sprinkled throughout these three hours, and so are hits… and Hawke is right when he says that they deserve a party.