Jay Reatard is a hard person to sum up in so many words. There’s a lot about him that seems warm, forthcoming and joyful. On the other hand there are things that he’s done that make him seem maladjusted, standoffish, or an outright jerk. The truth is somewhere in between and it seems to be what BETTER THAN SOMETHING wants us to learn.

Reatard (born Jay Lindsay) died suddenly last year at the age of 29, and his death envelopes this film in a rare manner. As we begin, we know that Jay has passed away since we are watching footage of a tribute concert to him at the 2010 SXSW festival. Friends and colleagues cover his songs, speak lovingly and often times with a brutal honesty, giving us a sense that whoever Jay was, he meant the world to a select pool of musicians and music lovers.

Then the film hands us a surprise – Jay appears on camera and starts talking about his life and career. The conversations with Jay aren’t any sort of archival footage, or interviews cobbled together through the years. The scenes are a new series of videos shot in 2009 for this film…so it’s as if, after witnessing the wake, Jay is brought back to tell his side of things. The result is a documentary that is surprisingly charming about a truly creative man.

Reatard isn’t easy. His early music is abrasive and he is legend for being uncooperative or outright belligerent during interviews and concerts through the course of his career. However, through the film we are able to see that he lived to make music. The abrasiveness was just a part of his artistic evolution; his belligerence was his defence for being uncomfortable. Listening to him talk you can’t help but be drawn in by how down-to-earth he is…and wonder what might have been had he lived longer.

Dotted with some bitingly honest conversation, and some amazing music. BETTER THAN SOMETHING is a fitting final movement to the requiem of Jay Reatard.

BETTER THAN SOMETHING: JAY REATARD plays North by Northeast on Saturday June 18th – 5:30pm at Toronto Underground (186 Spadina Avenue).