My high school English teacher cautioned the class of graduating seniors never to return to the nest once they’ve taken flight. Brandon Lee could have profited from the advice. He walked away from the documentary halfway through production and his refusal to allow the right to use his likeness left writer-director Jono McLeod in quite the lurch. Here’s something you don’t see everyday. If imagination is key to originality, credit McLeod with the idea of introducing audiences to the ground-breaking concept of hiring an actor (Alan Cumming) to convincingly lip sync the role of his protagonist. (It isn’t until well into the picture that we get around to seeing the actual Lee in file footage.) Lee, if that is his name, was the son of a famous opera singer who moved around a lot and a college professor from whom mum was separated. Or was he? The narrative unfolds in part from Lee’s classmates — all interviewed in classrooms — and when there’s no photographic evidence to draw from, McLeod relied on Wild Child Animation to fill in the gaps. It’s a tale of what happens when a life doesn’t go as planned. One key revelation was a bit creepy, but what McLeod uncovers isn’t so much sinister as it is sorrowful. (2022) — Scott Marks
This movie is not currently in theaters.