Gary Busey,
Don Stroud,
Charles Martin Smith,
Maria Richwine,
Conrad Janis
... see more 
From the time he was a high-school student in Lubbock, Texas until his tragic death at age 22 in 1959, Buddy Holly ignored the condemnation by townspeople and his conservative relatives and dedicated ... read more
DVD Release Date: September 7, 1999
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Stats: 335 reviews
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Flixster Reviews (335)
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December 12, 2009If you want to see the promise and potential of Gary Busey before a drug-induced psychosis enveloped his entire being, this is the film to watch. Busey's portrayal of the legendary rock-n-roll pioneer is absolutely brilliant. He even sings all of Buddy's songs himself. Gary Busey... read more
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September 29, 2009Good bio on the famous rock 'n' roller! I particularly enjoyed the cricket scene!
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October 22, 2008Gary Busey not only did his own singing, but even lost 32 lbs to play Buddy Holly in this sensational musical biography of the singer from Lubbock Texas. Despite reportedly playing fast and loose with facts, the film is extremely entertaining. Busey was rightfully nominated for... read more
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December 7, 2010Nicely done loosely based biopic on the life of Buddy Holly. The performance by Gary Busey is fantastic and unfortunately he's never been better.
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October 6, 2010Gary Busey actually gives an amazingly sincere and believable performance as the late great Buddy Holly in this rock solid biopic. It's every bit as good as other great musical biopics I've seen, and what I liked about it, besides Busey's excellent performance, was that it took i... read more
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February 7, 2010This was one of Busey's best movies and he did an excellent job with this movie! He even looked like geeky Buddy Holly and I thought it hit home. The story was a little bit all over the place but laid his life out pretty well. What is even better is that Busey sang all original s... read more
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March 20, 2008this movie i would recommend to anyone that is into buddy holly just a great great bio pic maybe the one and only great gary busey perfomance out of all the movies he has done
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February 28, 2008although i dont like reading reviews on biopics that say there were alot of inaccuracies, and hearing that the original member of the crikets backed out because of these inacuracies doesnt help its cause but i tell you something, if you get a chance to watch one thing gary busey ... read more
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July 6, 2011A decent biopic, focusing more on the music than on the background stories. Gary Busey was spectactular, performing all the songs live, and was justifiably nominated for a Best Actor award.
Critic Reviews
April 10, 2012
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
September 18, 2010
Richard T. Jameson, Parallax View
[W]hat really puts the movie over is the actor in the title role, Gary Busey. Full Review
February 19, 2005
Tony Medley, tonymedley.com
An exceptionally good musical biopic with a sensational performancy by Busey
January 24, 2004
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
The Buddy Holly Story moves us with the joyfulness of its music and the honest sentiment aroused in us by this gawky, shy rock singer and songwriter. Full Review
July 26, 2002
Jeffrey Westhoff, Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)
Gary Busey's great performance offsets the fact that the script is about 80 percent fiction.
March 8, 2008
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
No review available.
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The Buddy Holly Story
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