Garage Days
Australian filmmaker Alex Proyas, famed for the high-style visual flair showcased in his cult successes "The Crow" and "Dark City", turns his highly developed eye to the gritty Sydney music scene in "Garage Days". Despite the straightforward drive of the screenplay (co-written by Proyas with Michael Udesky and musician Dave Warner), Proyas can't help bringing his visual pyrotechnics to bear on its very flimsy story.
There's a lot to like about "Garage Days", but the 20th Century Fox-backed film might have worked better if it had stuck a little closer to the spirit of its title. Its smooth, high-style finish is totally at odds with the straight-up lack of ambition in the script.
Freddy (Kick Gurry), Tanya (Pia Miranda), Joe (Brett Stiller) and Lucy (Chris Sadrinna) all have tedious daytime lives. At night, they come alive as a band, bashing away for hours and trying to get a spot on a Sydney stage -- any stage.
Clueless manager Bruno (Russell Dykstra) is no help, so bandleader Freddy takes charge by making the most of a coincidental meeting with Shad Kern (Marton Csokas), the biggest band manager in the country. Freddy also has trouble in the romance department, torn between feelings for his bass player Tanya and his guitarist's winsome girlfriend, Kate (Maya Stange).
Proyas indulges in slow motion, freeze frames, varying film stock and a multitude of shooting processes in a way that smacks of narcissism. "Garage Days" has an irreverence that's equally forced; injections of sex and drugs seem there solely to grab a young audience.
The film's detour into drug experimentation is sadly clubfooted. In trying to create an air of libertine cool, Proyas succeeds in looking like someone who's trying too hard. All attempts at raunchy sex escapades, including some light bondage, go down a similarly misguided road.
The film's pileup of styles is only equaled by its wildly divergent performances. Gurry struggles within the bland strictures of leading-man status, while Miranda pushes sassiness just a little too far. Newcomer Sadrinna, as the drugged-out drummer, is just plain weird. Stiller, a handsome and commanding presence as the band's brooding guitarist, gets saddled with the film's most absurd sub-plot, which has him playing papa to a rockmelon to prove to his girlfriend he'd make a good father. Stange, though, is captivating and magnetic at every turn.
The best performance comes from Csokas ("XXX"), who mixes equal parts broad humor and sexy edginess to steal every scene he's in as the sleazy band manager.
GARAGE DAYS
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Mystery Clock Cinema Prods. in association with Fox Searchlight Pictures and the Australian Film Finance Corp.
Credits:
Director: Alex Proyas
Screenwriters: Alex Proyas, Michael Udesky, Dave Warner
Producers: Alex Proyas, Topher Dow
Director of photography: Simon Duggan
Production designer: Michael Philips
Editor: Richard Learoyd
Music: David McCormack, Andrew Lancaster, Antony Partos
Cast:
Freddy: Kick Gurry
Tanya: Pia Miranda
Joe: Brett Stiller
Lucy: Chris Sadrinna
Shad Kern: Marton Csokas
Kate: Maya Stange
Bruno: Russell Dykstra
Kevin: Andy Anderson
Running time -- 90 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
There's a lot to like about "Garage Days", but the 20th Century Fox-backed film might have worked better if it had stuck a little closer to the spirit of its title. Its smooth, high-style finish is totally at odds with the straight-up lack of ambition in the script.
Freddy (Kick Gurry), Tanya (Pia Miranda), Joe (Brett Stiller) and Lucy (Chris Sadrinna) all have tedious daytime lives. At night, they come alive as a band, bashing away for hours and trying to get a spot on a Sydney stage -- any stage.
Clueless manager Bruno (Russell Dykstra) is no help, so bandleader Freddy takes charge by making the most of a coincidental meeting with Shad Kern (Marton Csokas), the biggest band manager in the country. Freddy also has trouble in the romance department, torn between feelings for his bass player Tanya and his guitarist's winsome girlfriend, Kate (Maya Stange).
Proyas indulges in slow motion, freeze frames, varying film stock and a multitude of shooting processes in a way that smacks of narcissism. "Garage Days" has an irreverence that's equally forced; injections of sex and drugs seem there solely to grab a young audience.
The film's detour into drug experimentation is sadly clubfooted. In trying to create an air of libertine cool, Proyas succeeds in looking like someone who's trying too hard. All attempts at raunchy sex escapades, including some light bondage, go down a similarly misguided road.
The film's pileup of styles is only equaled by its wildly divergent performances. Gurry struggles within the bland strictures of leading-man status, while Miranda pushes sassiness just a little too far. Newcomer Sadrinna, as the drugged-out drummer, is just plain weird. Stiller, a handsome and commanding presence as the band's brooding guitarist, gets saddled with the film's most absurd sub-plot, which has him playing papa to a rockmelon to prove to his girlfriend he'd make a good father. Stange, though, is captivating and magnetic at every turn.
The best performance comes from Csokas ("XXX"), who mixes equal parts broad humor and sexy edginess to steal every scene he's in as the sleazy band manager.
GARAGE DAYS
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Mystery Clock Cinema Prods. in association with Fox Searchlight Pictures and the Australian Film Finance Corp.
Credits:
Director: Alex Proyas
Screenwriters: Alex Proyas, Michael Udesky, Dave Warner
Producers: Alex Proyas, Topher Dow
Director of photography: Simon Duggan
Production designer: Michael Philips
Editor: Richard Learoyd
Music: David McCormack, Andrew Lancaster, Antony Partos
Cast:
Freddy: Kick Gurry
Tanya: Pia Miranda
Joe: Brett Stiller
Lucy: Chris Sadrinna
Shad Kern: Marton Csokas
Kate: Maya Stange
Bruno: Russell Dykstra
Kevin: Andy Anderson
Running time -- 90 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 10/21/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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