Hot Docs 2026: Our Review of ‘Kenny Loggins: Conviction of the Heart’

Posted in Festival Coverage by - April 28, 2026
Hot Docs 2026: Our Review of ‘Kenny Loggins: Conviction of the Heart’

Director Dori Berinstein takes the audience along for the ride as she documents the ‘final’ tour of Kenny Loggins, the ‘This is It’ tour of 2023. I put final in quotations as its always hard to say its one’s final tour, especially someone as prolific as Loggins, who is still actively writing new music.

At the beginning of the film it’s noted that Loggins, known to some as “Mr. Soundtrack”, still holds the distinction of being the only artist to have had Four top Ten entries on the Billboard Singles chart from different film soundtracks. Those would be ‘Footloose’, ‘Danger Zone’ from Top Gun, Caddyshack’s ‘I’m Alright’ and ‘Nobody’s Fool’ from the abysmal Caddyshack 2. It’s this close affinity to film that’s likely also helped him hold the attention of his adoring fans.

While there is some historical footage included, an attempt to outline his career, the bulk of this film takes place in 2023 and tells the story of his life and family, his relationship with his children and the emotional journey through the transition of his youngest child. It’s a deeply personal side of the story that most music centric documentary’s rarely if ever dig into.

Of course there are also plenty of contemporaries on hand here to discuss their work and time with Kenny, from a seemingly ageless Richard Marx, to his first major collaborator Jim Messina. They both collaborated on stage with Kenny in his last concert in his home town of Santa Barbara. Loggins himself sits down on camera with Clive Davis in a fun catch up between the pair, and Michael McDonald discusses how the pair wrote the Grammy winning ‘What a Fool Believes’. Overall the film is a fun tribute to a man that has perhaps had a bigger impact on society that even he knows.

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"Kirk Haviland is an entertainment industry veteran of over 20 years- starting very young in the exhibition/retail sector before moving into criticism, writing with many websites through the years and ultimately into festival work dealing in programming/presenting and acquisitions. He works tirelessly in the world of Canadian Independent Genre Film - but is also a keen viewer of cinema from all corners of the globe (with a big soft spot for Asian cinema!)
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