I had to check the DVD box three times to be sure that it was the name ALEX
PROYAS as director, because this is just such an unbelievably bad and
amateurish film. It would be more believable with its odd tone, jokiness and
musical/fantasy elements if it were a hitherto undiscovered, very, very very early Baz Luhrman project.
"Garage Days" is a whimsical look at a contemporary Sydney, Australia rock
band. For an American viewer, the first obstacle is the slangy, heavily accented Australian dialect. I do understand that is the setting, but for anybody in another English speaking country to understand even half of the plot, they needed to
tone down the accent and the words that are incomprehensible to the (much
larger potential) US audience. Like "pokies"...I guess they are slot machines but it certainly was not clear.
The story is so aimlessly told that although it's about a rock band -- I did get that -- I have no idea after watching the whole film what the band's NAME was. They don't play a whole song until the very end, and then we are told that they really suck -- although actually they are not that terrible. So all the sturm and drang is for absolutely nothing, because they are talentless and as the tie-ups at the end tell us, all the members went on to other careers or get married.
The overall tone of the film is very like an old episode of the Monkees or The Partridge Family -- very jokey and cartoon-like, with lots of stylized action. Of course, because this is the 2000's, we have to get the requisite CGI effects: bullet time, slo mo, CGI monsters and drug trips and other comical moments.
None of this really pans out or seems to work. The emotional tone is so sixties and caricaturing, and yet the story is supposed to be very "now" and the
characters wouldn't have even been born in the 60s.
Some of the lamest moments involve "drug trips", portrayed like something out of Reefer Madness.
I can only scratch my head wondering why Alex Proyas, who made two of the
most stylish, influential and original sci fi fantasy movies of the 90s would have stooped to this embarrassing garbage. It can't have been money, because this is a pretty low budget affair and it can't be fame, because it seems to be aimed mostly at the Aussie film market. Perhaps Mr. Proyas was himself once in a
Garage Band and wanted to relive it a bit, although he would have to be at least 20 years older than the characters in the film.
"Garage Days" suffers quite badly also when compared to rock band films like
"Almost Famous" or "The Committments". Although the idea of a bad, untalented band is quite funny -- think "Spinal Tap" -- there is an inherent problem that no one wants to listen to really bad music for 2 hours. Also, "Garage Days" is just plain unfunny, with tired sitcom-like jokes.
The sound track has a mixture of oldies and contemporary music, played loudly and over every scene, apparently to compensate for a lack of any original music or even covers played by the band in the film. While some of this music is
enjoyable, the loud overwhelming presence of other, more talented rockers
music only draws attention to the lack of any interesting qualities to the
characters or the plot, and doesn't allow the action to slow down enough for us to develop any intimacy with the characters or the romance between the two
leads.
If shown on MTV as the senior project of an wannabe film director, this would still be lacking in quality, but more understandable and maybe forgivable. As the work of one of most respected sci fi fantasy film directors of the last decade, it is actually disturbing. Since "Dark City", Mr. Proyas has only made two films, this and the dull, derivative "I Robot". WHAT HAPPENED???? I'd give ten dollars to know...but the answer would probably make me very very sad.
