BY JOE TYRRELL

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

“Greetings from Tim Buckley” intertwines the brief, tragic lives of two singers in evocative if sketchy style.

If nothing else, this movie spotlights the talent of that erstwhile Gossip Girl, Penn Badgley, whose vocals and cheekbones establish him as a genuine star of the big screen.

Director Daniel Algrant’s movie was another strong feature at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival after making its debut in Toronto. It is opening in New York this weekend and already available on many video on demand systems.

In their separate careers, Tim Buckley and his son Jeff each established himself as a major talent before dying young. The sad stories, with their eerie parallels and made to order soundtracks, are made for the movies. Indeed, other Buckley biopics are on the way.

Here, though, the script by Algrant, David Brendel and Emma Sheanshang, leaves out some pieces of each story while trying to mush them together in heartfelt but not entirely convincing ways.

One arc of the movie is set in Brooklyn in 1991, as unknown Jeff Buckley (Badgley) prepares to take part in a memorial concert for a man he hardly knew, his late father Tim.

Another section begins in Orange County in 1966, where Tim Buckley leaves his wife behind to go out on a tour that will seldom if ever bring him home. He is well played by Ben Rosenfield, who shares enough of Badgley’s pre-Raphaelite looks to be a believable father.

As it happened, Tim’s tumultuous relationship with his first wife, Mary Guibert, was already over by that point. They divorced before she gave birth to her son, Jeff. A bit more of this real-life background might have provided a solid underpinning for what follows. As it is, though, Rosenfeld manages to quickly present Tim as a rambling kind of guy, charismatic but irresponsible.

Meanwhile, his son is brooding and standoffish, wandering into rehearsals at St. Ann’s Church in Brooklyn to find his father’s old musicians and friends, as well as old and new fans. Believably, Jeff finds it difficult to fit in. Badgley hits the right emotional notes.

Conveniently, though, there is a lovely go-fer on the staff to take him by the hand as he wanders through some of his father’s old haunts.

Producers, do you suffer from that increasingly common Hollywood problem, you know you should have a girl in your movie but don’t want to pay anyone to write decent dialogue for her part?

Your solution is Imogen Poots (“28 Weeks Later”), a British actress who with the exception of Sarah Polley has the most expressive face in the English-speaking world. But who needs to speak when Imogen can smile or lift an eyebrow? And, she has a lovely singing voice.

Essential for a movie about music makers, “Greetings” is awash in music, which often substitutes for dialogue. That frequently works, especially when it comes from Tim Buckley, a prolific, questing songwriter who started with folk and kept exploring with his five-octave voice.

“Greetings” offers plenty of scenes of Badgley looking beautiful while observing others performing. But the must-see bit is his impromptu scat-singing of Led Zeppelin and T. Rex in a record store -- remember, this is a period piece -- to impress and possibly embarrass Allie.

Badgley is equally good when Jeff finally gets it together for the concert, performing with a band as well as a solo version of “Once I Was,” one of his father’s best-known songs.  Jeff Buckley also had formidable vocal range, which Badgley at least suggests in these very credible performances, filmed live, which adhere to the actual 1991 event.

The movie’s efforts to suggest some sort of reconciliation between father and son seem more well-intentioned than persuasive. But since there’s not a lot of other material here, they at least give some point to the story. In that context, I appreciate the final scene, but feel free to find it sappy.

A fuller biography of either man might work better. Despite having a suitable Tim Buckley in Rosenfield, this movie is not very interested in the explorations that took his music in often non-commercial directions, or in the demons that led to his death from an accidental overdose at 28.

Similarly, “Greetings” ends at a point when Jeff Buckley is just finding his voice as a performer, three years before the release of his notable album “Grace,” and six before his death by drowning.

So there is a lot more for future movies to pursue, but fine performances and good music still make “Greetings from Tim Buckley” worthy of your time.

Joe Tyrrell may be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or followed on Twitter @ jtyrrell87.