Grand Theft Parsons is a little Independent charmer that succeeds in a modest way because of a cute turn by Johnny Knoxville, and a story that would be incredibly implausible if it weren't true. How accurate all this truth is, is a matter of conjecture, I'm sure, but it's certainly one of those stories where you have to smile and think to yourself "Only in America."

To understand the film a little back story on Gram Parsons certainly helps - and since the film itself offered precious little of this it suffers some, but for those who are familiar with Parson's legacy they'll no doubt love it to death.
Parsons is often credited with being the man responsible for making country music cool, or at least cool where rock and rollers were concerned. It could fairly be said that he was the Godfather of alt/country and has inspired artists from the Eagles to the Grateful Dead to Wilco. He single-handedly turned the Byrds into purveyors of country with the classic Sweethearts of the Rodeo and even hung out and inspired the Rolling Stones to dabble in country music.

Parsons died of a drug over-dose in 1973 and this film chronicles the events that immediately followed the unfortunate event. Knoxville plays Jack Kaufman - Parsons road manager and close personal friend - who shared a vow with the musician that whichever one would die first the other would see to it that his body was burned in the Joshua Tree area of the California desert - a place both men loved and spent many a happy hour. Upon learning of Parsons' death, Kaufman sets out to fulfill this solemn promise and hence this screwball comedy gets underway.

Knoxville first hires a yellow hearse from a hippy-dippy drug-addict played by Michael Shannon who refuses to allow the vehicle to go anywhere without him and hence the film turns into a rather standard road film. Knoxville and Shannon's combative chemistry is the best part of the film, and though they are at odds at every turn, they play off one another quite well. After hijacking the body at LAX the rest of the film deals with Kaufman's attempt to carry-out his mission.

In his way are two chief obstacles - Parsons' father played by Robert Forster, a straight-laced businessman who'd flown out from New Orleans to retrieve the body of his son, and one of Parson's former girlfriend played by Christina Applegate, who feels entitled to his belongings and is hell bent on getting what she perceives to be her just due. Grand Theft Parsons hits it's share of dead spots, but Knoxville's affable rogue of a protagonist drives the film ahead and keeps it fun and lively.

Applegate and Forster also turn in good performances and there are enough bizarre moments to keep the story from stalling out. And above all the film doesn't take itself seriously and never stoops to even a shred of sentimentality. Grand Theft Parsons remains light and breezy throughout and has a few surprises up it's sleeve and the ending is touching without really trying to be.