8/28/14

Frank

The U.K. and Ireland submitted this enigmatic piece to the 2014 Seattle International Film Festival. It features an eager young musician who is invited to play keyboard for an eccentric band after their current key- boardist tries to commit suicide.

We were assaulted with atonal squeaks and squawks, directionless chords on a guitar, listless vocals with meaningless words, plus depressing behavior for no good reason, for about 85 minutes. I detected about 5 minutes of plot, followed by 5 minutes of appreciation for a brilliant job by an actor! That grand total of 95 minutes, however, wasn't enough to make the movie worthwhile...

I suffered with:
  • Domhnall Gleeson ("About Time") as Jon, a keen young musician anxious to write for the new group but totally bewildered by their lack of musicality. Plus they burn through all of his savings.
  • Maggie Gyllenhaal ("White House Down") is Clara, their lead vocalist and an expressionless conundrum. She seems to be sleepwalking most of the time, except when she is flying into a fit and slapping folks.
  • Michael Fassbender ("12 Years a Slave") is our eponymous Frank, who perpetually wears a big round pink plastic bubble with a face painted on it. He supposedly sings, but neither the words nor the tune are ever recognizable. Frank is a complete mystery to Jon... and me...
The climax of the story is supposed to be the band's appearance in Austin at the SXSW Arts Festival, but I had become so weary by then, I hadn't invested much hope...

It is important to acknowledge the excellence of Fassbender's work; he is completely believable in this role, as is he playing the young Magneto in the "X-Men" series, a Peter O'Toole lookalike robot in "Prometheus," and a depraved slave owner in "12 Years a Slave." Kudos, Mr. F!
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See what you think:
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi4288654361
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