Neil Peart: No One's Disciple

If the surest means of determining the talent of the musician behind the kit is the number of air drummers in a packed arena, then no one matched Neil Peart. During his four-decade tenure with Canadian power trio Rush, Peart continually astonished and thrilled both fans and fellow drummers who became friends before his untimely death from brain cancer in 2020.

That’s why it’s especially meaningful to listen in on the conversations — musical and otherwise — that fill co-directors Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn’s note-perfect documentary about Peart and his surviving bandmates’ celebration of their friend’s life, legacy, and artistry. In exhilarating performance sequences, Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson revisit some of Rush’s greatest songs with Peart’s chair filled by four of his musical “brothers”: The Police’s Stewart Copeland, Tool’s Danny Carey, Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Gavin Harrison of Porcupine Tree and King Crimson.

That Peart’s parts are so challenging even for such revered players says a lot about the ingenuity and dexterity he brought to Rush’s music. The performances also become one of several means of commemorating a man who — as Dunn’s film reveals — was equally complex. The remembrances and anecdotes of the musicians and other intimates help fill out the portrait that Dunn creates via archival interviews and other footage.

Particularly poignant is the story of Peart’s own grief journey after the devastating loss of his daughter and wife in the late 1990s. Yet the vibe of Neil Peart: No One’s Disciple is more joyful than mournful, eliciting laughs and tears along with plenty more air drumming.

JASON ANDERSON

Content advisory: coarse language