Really Surprised!

Purely Joyful Movie!

How sad is this?

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

David Chase's earnest mix of rock 'n roll, young love and family drama is overlong and sloppy, aspiring to be a defining examination of the Sixties but rendered trite by trudging out references to every historic moment (in this, it's similar to "Lee Daniels' The Butler") and wallowing in misguided pronouncements about the Vietnam War, capitalism and rock's purity; the intent is to advance the father-son conflict between lead John Magaro and a wasted James Gandolfini. (In fact, Chase unintentionally portrays rock music as a negative force, divisive enough to destroy families.) Chase's strength as the creator of "The Sopranos" was in his carefully plotted backstory that forced the viewer to pay close attention upfront; here, he employs a similar approach, but without the expanse a mini-series affords the result is disjointed and incomplete: all of the stories he introduces are either left unsatisfactorily unresolved or spontaneously concluded. It doesn't help that his characters are inherently unlikable (Magaro is a good example), mere caricatures (co-stars Jack Huston and Will Brill) or blanks (love interest Bella Heathcote). The film's sole asset is Steven Van Zandt's musical curation, though he eschews the deeper tracks in favor of songs even the casual fan will recognize.

The recent film Not Fade Away, is both the biography of David Chase, the film director who created the Sopranos and, in its way, a biography of the Rolling Stones' music and the American Black Blues and Race tunes that influenced the group in the first place, before they were distracted into becoming the bad boy alternative band to the cozy, family-friendly, mop top Beatles, writing their own songs instead of covering old black blues songs as they had originally intended to do. The first Stones record "Come On", a cover of an old Chuck Berry tune, was released 50 years ago last Friday (6-7-63) in the UK only. ABC News somehow gave the impression last week that the first Stones song was Not Fade Away, a Buddy Holly B-Side, that became the ironic title of Chase's biopic about his transformation from a talented Jersey Stones Wannabe band member to creator and director of TV's the Sopranos. The opening scene of the movie Not Fade Away features a black and white meeting between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards on a train bound for London in 1962. The two young men had lived in the same provincial town and gone to the same school earlier, until Jagger moved away. Within two years this chance meeting had evolved into the Rolling Stones under the management of a kid so young, he had to have his mother sign the band's contracts. I had listened to Keith Richards' biography "Life" (2010) which had explored the evolution of the Stones and their music, and, as I watched Not Fade Away, I realized Chase's movie was recasting what Richards had written about the Stones' music, into his own biography about his late high school entry into being a member of a band on the Jersey Shore. Chase's Jersey band plays 'wannabe' music so well, you ask yourself why they didn't rocket instantly to the top. The first time you see Chase's band performing, they're doing a version of the Chantays' Pipeline so expertly, they might just as well BE THE CHANTAYS! The musical part of Not Fade Away is extraordinary. The overlay of Stones music and Stones biography is a major part of Chase's film. But the screenplay, about a fledgling rock n' roll band and Chase's horrific parents, who are both monstrous and funny at the same time, is the best screenplay I've seen since Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven. There isn't a wrong word or phrase in it. Chase would segue between the Jersey Band's Not Fade Away and its drum rhythm back beat lifted entirely by Buddy Holly first and the Stones later, from Bo Diddley's signature song Bo Diddley, showing original black and white Dick Clark footage of Diddley performing it. Periodically, the action would move to Chase's family kitchen where the major showdowns between Chase and his father (James Ghandolfini) take place. Usually, Chase's very rational younger sister defends her brother, while castigating Pop for calling black people 'niggers' and gay people 'fags.' The mother, always ironing while wearing a plastic hair net over her curlers and a terrible light blue housecoat, would not interfere except to occasionally shriek about nightmares she had, like the one with a black man trying to break into the house at night. The movie is reminiscent of the 'kitchen sink' social realism plays in England written by John Osborne, Terence Rattigan and, later, Harold Pinter, beginning in the 50s. Noel Coward and others had ragged and mocked the lower classes in plays up until then, never giving a voice to the lower classes in Britain until the Labor Party began its long tenure in England after the war. Chase gets involved with the daughter of a Manhattan Ad Agency Account executive, the same fascinating dolt who played Louise's hapless, idiotic husband back home in 1992's Thelma and Louise. Like the sister of the Chase character, she and her sister provide another story of children revolting from the teachings of their idiotic 'greatest generation' parents. The girlfriend, who gives a wonderful performance, attacks her father and his six car garage, when he puts her sister in the nut house for voicing some radical then, tame now, thoughts about politics during the mad house sixties. Dad one ups her somehow in a discussion that begins with him defending Buick's 'Pitch Dynaflow' automatic transmission of then current TV advertising, by coming back with something like this: "Well, if that's the way you see it,that's fine, MRS. ALLAN GINSBERG!" Chase's biopic, is a mix of comedy and drama at the same time. They call it Dramady. If you haven't seen this one yet, you'd better.

Yes, I'm fully aware that America is currently infatuated with superheroes and apocalyptic fantasies right now at your local multiplex {right back atcha' Mr. Cruise, Mr. Damon & Mr. Smith (both of 'em)}. But can't a decent, well-acted, smaller period piece written and directed by the great David Chase find an audience? Anyone? I guess not, as this grossed less than $600,000 on a budget of twenty mil. Maybe this will catch new life down the road on cable, but that remains to be seen.I'm not saying this was the greatest thing ever, but I certainly enjoyed it. Awesome period sets (I loved the snippets of TV shots thrown in) along with cool music highlighted this great effort by Chase to bring back his days as a young suburban NYC drummer turned west-coast film school "refugee".It also really worked well to have a cast of unknowns, as they really helped make the story of many a 60's garage band like this looking for any kind of breakout believable. It took me several minutes to figure out the guitar wiz was Jack Huston from "Boardwalk Empire"…40 years, one eye and a great wig away from his chilling Richard Harrow character.And there surely was something comforting, and a great nod to nine years of quality work on "The Sopranos" with Chase letting James Gandolfini's one-dimensional 1960's "generation gap" father have a bowl of ice cream again on the couch, even though The History Channel wouldn't be invented for another 30 years! Do check this out if you somehow want to remember the mid-60's, as it's well worth the time spent.P.S.-best line for me was when our hero Douglas realizes he may have lost his babe at a Hollywood party to some "English Invader", but still asks the burning question: "Do you know where Rod Serling lives?"

David Chase's "Not Fade Away" looks at what it was like to come of age in the '60s. The main focus is a New Jersey teenager who decides to join a band, but there are clear signs of everything that was going on: the Vietnam War, the generation gap, racial tensions, and Dean Martin's mean-spirited comment about the Beatles. Contrary to the previous reviewer, I would say that this movie is better than "Almost Famous". The latter was too fluffy and came across as a sanitized look at its era. This one is very upfront about what sorts of things happened (including some very tense scenes). And the final line poses a good question about how we as Americans want to be known to the world. Can we eventually look to our best qualities to do what's right? Anyway, this is a good movie. It's got great music and brings up some important points. I recommend it.