![]() There's getting the record actually distributed. Then when they get back it sets in that they don't really play anywhere and are deteriorating away - until the initiative comes to Legs that an album must be made, and their only real big-time major produced record, produced by the guy behind many of Black Sabbath and Thin Lizzy's records, tries to get them to do it. It's so real and raw in presentation that you are on the edge of your seat wondering "can this be the end?" The film follows Anvil, half with original members and half with new ones, as they first go on tour in Europe (while on vacation from their *actual* pay jobs, which include for Lips driving grocery supplies- again, a supermarket job ala Randy The Ram Robinson and breaking concrete for Reiner), and after the initial high of going on tour in Metal havens like Sweden find that their manager is misguided and without proper English and they barely get paid for gigs they actually play. This is about real stakes, of friendship and what it means to stick together in something that may be a failure for the most part. We see real hardcore screaming matches between himself and his friend Robb Reiner (not that Reiner, oddly enough director of 'Tap'), and it's not like what one saw in 2004's Some Kind of Monster where we saw a group of *millionaires* whining in argument over recording an album and going into group therapy. They've got big balls, maybe the biggest of them all, but can they get that record break even in their Canadian homeland? At the same time that the lead singer Lips carries that determination and optimism, now in his 50's and playing in Anvil for over 30 years, there are some moments where he just breaks down. Anvil is the hardest working metal band that hasn't caught a break in years, but they play and play their heart and soul out for all it's worth even when nobody (or five people in a 10,000 seat arena) shows up. There's such a connection to these people that what was uproarious in Spinal Tap carries a whole other dimension. This is a film that has a bittersweet tattoo on its hands, mostly bitter, a bit of sweet, and a whole lot of optimism with the chaser of stress and the very upfront possibility of failure. But it's also got the heart and some similarity to The Wrestler. ![]() Indeed at one point when the camera follows the band walking down a hallway about to go on stage I put a hand over my eyes thinking they were about to get lost. Forget Slumdog Millionaire - Anvil is the true feelgood movie of the year so far.Īnvil: The Story of Anvil has got those absurd moments ala Spinal Tap, to be sure. What Gervasi has achieved is a truly moving, funny and uplifting account of a band's struggle for the recognition you can't help but feel they so richly deserve. The small audience we saw it with seemed to enjoy the film very much, and nobody stood up until the credits had ended. In places I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, and nearly did both simultaneously more than once. Comparisons with Spinal Tap are obvious but do no favours to Anvil, whose members are never less than engaging, industrious and loyal. The structure of this film is particularly engaging and - once again - Gervasi trims any unnecessary fat from what could have been a fan's-eye-view of Anvil. Here is the flipside of The X Factor - one band's truth about the music industry and their seemingly endless efforts to achieve success 30 years on from what looked like spectacular beginnings. ![]() Despite being close to the band, he has managed to maintain the objectivity that allows not a jot of over-indulgence, while allowing the pathos and humour of the situation to emerge organically. But from the opening frames I was pulled into this film and carried through it on a wave of wonderful characters, intriguing 'plot' and the sheer devotion to duty shown both by the members of Anvil and the film-maker Sacha Gervasi. I went with my boyfriend to see this movie even though I have less than no interest in heavy metal. For once I feel the high IMDb rating is deserved. ![]()
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