DOC NYC 2024: Diane Warren: Relentless Review

Diane Warren is one of the most iconic songwriters ever. Over her legendary 41-year career, she became a household name for writing pop songs for the industry and original songs in films. Over the years, she has received 15 nominations for the Academy Awards, a record for most nominations without a competitive win (She was awarded an Honorary Oscar in 2023). Besides all the folklore surrounding her yearly Oscar nominations, consequently her Oscar losses, Diane Warren: Relentless tries to paint a bigger picture of what has been an enormous career. 

Director Bess Kargman (First Position) approaches her subject as the singular individual. She is a fierce, self-made artist who overcame all of the doubters questioning her capacities and talents. Kargman, leaning on a holistically conventional documentary structure, builds an almost linear narrative to fit the thesis she tries to present. It goes into a familiar territory of artists’ biographical documentaries. The film surrounds the tropes necessary to fulfill all the boxes that this commercially accepted genre has: 1) infancy, 2) quirkiness, 3) rise, 4) fall, 5) comeback, and elderly age. In this sense, Warren necessarily does not have a downfall; however, her challenging personality repels people from working with and befriending her. In the end, while Kargman has the creative freedom to observe Diane as the complex person she is, it still follows a formulaic circle. 

To that point, the editing constructs the film through passages of her biggest hits, ranging from her first hit, ‘Rhythm of the Night’ in 1985, to her recent original songs that have gotten a greater scope, such as ‘Til It Happens to You’ with Lady Gaga which lost at the 2016 Oscars to Sam Smith’s ‘Writing on the Wall’ from the soundtrack of Spectre. Responsible for countless Billboard Hot 100 hits and Academy Awards nominations, the film is ultimately a story of someone who grew up in a broken home. In the film, Warren expresses how she feels empty for having a background that has not been trusted since day one. Her mother wanted her to be a teacher or a secretary. Behind the scenes, the research team and the editor work together to find home videos and interviews of her late mother that reflect her disappointment, even despite her many successes.  

That being said, the film has plenty of funny moments thanks to Warren’s singular personality. However, its bureaucratic approach will tire audiences because of its commitment to a condensed view of her career. The film approaches some of the controversies that have encompassed her life, such as her behaviour across her relationships with other artists and her life as a single person, choosing not to marry or have children. Though it adds substance to the complexity of her personality, it fails to move the needle in a way that deepens the film enough to present audiences a more personified view of her life. While it delivers what one would expect of a film about her life, such as her long resume of hit singles and Oscar nominations, it is let down by its formulaic format that fails to broaden its scope in a meaningful enough way. 

At the end of the day, Diane Warren: Relentless adds some anecdotes to the acclaimed career of one of the most successful songwriters ever. While its scope is narrow, it delivers a decent recap of her hits and shows how funny Diane Warren really is.

still courtesy of XTR

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Pedro Lima

Brazilian film writer. He is also a producer and executive producer for Zariah Filmes. Member of the International Film Society Critics Association (IFSCA), International Documentary Association (IDA), and Gotham and Media Film Institute.