‘We Are the Thousand’ Review

Directed by Anita Rivaroli

There’s one thing that can be said about We Are the Thousand that sets it apart from almost any other movie, and that’s that there will never be another movie like it. It tells the story of a thousand musicians coming together to perform the Foo Fighters’ song ‘Learn To Fly’ In an attempt to get them to play a concert in their small town.

Maybe that doesn’t sound like something that you could make an eighty-minute documentary out of but there’s a lot going on. Starting with an idea is where this would start and end with many people but that idea grows. Then, even with a small following and backing, you have to get a thousand people to turn up and play the song together. What is, pretty much, a thousand strangers then have to play in harmony and make the song sound at least decent for the video that will be posted online.

You can see where the story is heading and there are no real surprises. They’re not needed either and it’s likely that if you’re watching the film you have already heard of the original story too and you’ll know that they’ll be a happy ending to it all.

Sometimes it is nice to watch nice, good people do amazing things and that’s what we have here with We Are the Thousand. I guess it’s not completely selfless (what ever is?) because the outcome of getting Foo Fighters to play in the town is something they want but the people that put it all together seem like genuinely nice people. And they work tirelessly for a year to get their goal. Not only that but the people that come to play the song are great people too and it has that “we’re all in this together” vibe.

One talking head scene goes through the many musicians as they tell the camera their occupations and it shows the wide variety of people there. The Foo Fighters are a band that so many people like that this isn’t just people that are into rock music. It’s people with a wide taste in music, people that have played music for years as well as ones who have just learnt. There are families, and there are people alone who have been thrown out of their band. After that day, they have this special bond. Although it’s not the same as being there, the documentary does well to show this. You feel their connection and the emotion it brings. We Are the Thousand becomes surprisingly emotional at several points and I can’t imagine anyone doesn’t get teary-eyed when one older musician tells the story of him recently getting a ‘condition’ and having a bucket list that included buying a guitar and playing a live show.

There are more moments like that one and of course, the appearance of the Foo Fighters and Dave Grohl only adds to the belief that they are some of the nicest people in music.

This isn’t a particularly ground-breaking documentary but it’s one that will make you smile from ear to ear. You won’t see a more heart-warming or crowd-pleasing movie in 2022.

**** 4/5

We Are the Thousand is released in theaters and arrives on VOD/digital platforms on June 3rd across the US from Blue Fox Entertainment and Breaking Glass Pictures