Review:
At 14, best friends Robb Reiner and Lips made a pact to rock together forever. Their band, Anvil, hailed as the "demi-gods of Canadian metal, " influenced a musical generation that includes Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax, despite never hitting the big time. Following a calamitous European tour, Lips and Robb, now in their fifties, set off to record their 13th album in one last attempt to fulfill their boyhood dreams
It almost seems too good to be true: a documentary about a pair of once-were-nearly-but-not-quite-superstar heavy metal musicians, one of whom shares the name of the director of "This Is Spinal Tap", still banging heads into their 50s.
Yet it is true: "Anvil! The Story of Anvil", directed by Sacha Gervasi, is a hilarious, touching, profound and inspiring film about art and dreams and self-belief and the goggle-eyed hope that you can will a miracle into reality through sheer effort and desire.
Gervasi presents Steve "Lips" Kudlow and Robb Reiner, who began playing music together as teens, became an early influence on some of heavy metal's biggest hitters and then vanished into obscurity, where they still thrash away in middle age, playing dive bars, working day jobs and eternally hoping they can reinvent their band and keep their lives intact.
It's a stirring and altogether unlikely tale, enlivened with episodes of friction, forgiveness, folly and faith. You may not care a lick for the music that Anvil play, but you'll be captivated, entertained and even ennobled by this utterly engaging portrait of their struggle.
Trailer:
No comments:
Post a Comment