Roadie

I watched this movie for two reasons. First, I am a huge fan of Blue Oyster Cult. Been listening to BOC since 1973 and have seen them about 60 times in concert. Second, I worked as a sound engineer, stage manager, production assistant and local crew stagehand at thousands of shows in Arizona. Though I only did a few "road" gigs and most of what I did was local work, I have many "roadie" friends that have been around the world with some pretty big named bands. So my love for BOC and my time spent working in the business is what drew me to this movie. While the story is a bit slow, I still liked it and could relate to many of the scenes. I remember going back to my old high school bedroom at my parent's house after moving away. It was pretty surreal just like in the movie when Jimmy comes home, puts on an old Robin Trower record and lays in his bed surrounded by posters of his rock heroes from the days of his youth and sings along at the top of his lungs. I can also relate to bumping into old friends after I had moved away and some of the dialog and reminiscing that takes place. Of course, I loved the soundtrack! Not many movies feature Buck's Boogie, Last Days Of May, See You in Black, Cities on Flames and The Red and The Black! Plus some Trower, Tull and of course Jackson Browne's tribute to roadies, The Load Out! One of my favorite parts is when they are in the bar and Jimmy is trying to describe BOC's music. Something that many have tried to do for years now and failed. Jimmy says "The Thinking Man's Metal" "That's how the critic's described them" and to me that best sums it up. Jimmy and Nicky are in the bar and Cities On Flame is playing on the juke box. Nicky says he never got BOC and Jimmy attempts to explain how good they were to him. The script goes something like this: "And the drumming, it would get all jazzy, but underneath all those f#@%ing heavy riffs!

I mean Buck Dharma, his solo on Dominance and Submission is without question the BEST hard rock guitar solo of the era, hands down! It sums up everything that came before it. I mean Hendrix, Zeppelin, Townshend. Dharma, he takes a little bit from all of them and mashes it all together into one f#@%in' brilliant solo that says, THIS! THIS is what it's all about! It was like science fiction poetry on a turntable. All these weird worlds. They were just so much smarter than everything else that was around. Naw man, BOC, they were better. And they should have been even bigger!" For me the movie was just what I expected, no blockbuster, no action packed car chases, just a movie about coming home to your roots to see your aging mom, your rusted out old car, your old neighborhood, some old high school friends and the collection of vinyl and rock posters in your bedroom that would allow you to escape reality for just a little while.

Is this movie a musical tribute to roadies who vicariously act out their rock-n-roll fantasies through the live performances of their employers or is it a musical rebuke of all forms of career mediocrity that settle for a greasy hamburger without even looking at the gourmet steak menu? For me, it was both.

Many scenes had the realistic look and feel of a low-budget documentary that exposes the dreary monotony of people talking a lot but saying very little. But other scenes played out more like attention-captivating music videos where the classic-rock song playing in the background was perfectly synchronized with the fleeting frames of film it was linked to in such a way as to reveal more in a few musical measures than even the most eloquently constructed lines of dialog could ever hope to express using the medium of the written-to-spoken word.

Thematic elements of Roadie dealt with connecting to people and places from one's past but despite being portrayed under the center-stage spotlight of honesty, these themes are never totally submerged in a bottomless pool of pessimism where hopelessness and despair become deadly poisons to those who dare to dream and dream to dare. Instead, I found a few rays of sunny optimism shining through the dark clouds of experiential adversity and disappointment as though to subtly suggest that just as wisdom is gained from taking an honest look at the many seeds of mistakes (erroneous judgment) sown in the gardens of the past so can wisdom be applied to improving the blossoming realization of the future by making better (wiser) choices in the decision-sprouting reality of the present moment!

Led Zeppelin said it better than I ever could in a line from the lyrics from their 1971 hit, Stairway to Heaven: "There's still time to change the road you're on."

Jimmy was a roadie for Blue Oyster Cult all his adult life who has - painfully and wrongfully according to him - been fired by the band and left by them somewhere in the wilds of Michigan. With nowhere else to go, he makes his way back home to Queens where he has not been since his father's death many, many years before. He has barely spoken with his mother in the interim and now he overstates his role with the band to her - manager, writer, producer, etc. He tries to collect himself to deal with this massive setback, but he is not making the situation any better with angry calls to the band's actual manager.

I think that roadie is one of the coolest jobs in the world next to rock star and Jimmy does as well. I, too, would have major problems dealing with his rude awakening after so many years and the loss of his livelihood and dream.

Out for some butter for his Mom's famous tuna melts, Jimmy runs into a high school classmate who is and was quite a butt-head who is now married to Jimmy's first love, Nikki. Jimmy and Nikki wind up back in his boyhood room which is untouched by time and looks like a "rock and roll museum" according to Nikki.

Out of his vinyl record collection, Nikki pulls out Ratcity In Blue by, local 70s favorites, the Good Rats and they listen to a couple of tracks. This brings back memories of seeing the band every Saturday night with their friend Steph - who passed away unbeknownst to Jimmy.

This movie is about real people, with lots of issues, who love music and are dealing with some very real problems. If you enjoy music, have been on the road with a band or thought about doing so (one of my life's regrets is turning down an offer to be a roadie) you will really like this movie.

Full disclosure - I also own this "original" album with the cool pizza sleeve art, am a huge Good Rats fan and may have seen Steph, Nikki and Jimmy at one of those Saturday night shows back in the day. My heartfelt thanks go to Gerald and Michael Cuesta for a wonderful film and soundtrack including these New York music legends and a great version of Jackson Browne's Stay by Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows. Did they misspell "Peppi" Marchello in the closing thanks to him?

After 20 years of lugging gear and setting up equipment for the Blue Oyster Cult, Jimmy (Ron Eldard) is unceremoniously fired and abandoned by the band members he considered to be friends. With no identity outside of his status as a roadie and no life plans, Jimmy ends up heading back home for the first time in a decade. After crashing in his old bedroom, Jimmy comes into contact with Randy (Bobby Cannavale), his high-school nemesis who happens to be married to Nikki (Jill Hennessey), an old flame he never really got over. With nothing to show for his time away from home, Jimmy begins making up stories and eventually draws Randy's ire, creating an uncomfortable situation that further messes with Jimmy's already fragile mental state.

Roadie is like a conflict between two mountain goats (I know that "bighorn sheep" would be a more scientifically correct title but "mountain goat" just sounds better): one goat represents the acting in this film, chiefly that of Eldard, and the other represents the storyline and general exposition of said storyline. The Acting Goat is an outstanding specimen. Eldard is one of my very favorite character actors, a guy who always draws my attention no matter how big or small his role in a given movie may be. (This makes him a member of the "Barry Pepper All-Stars", a list of actors I really need to write a piece about one of these days.) This is a rare leading role for Eldard and he shines brilliantly. Jimmy is easy to root for despite not really showing many qualities that usually make one likable and that is due to Eldard's ability to convey a measure of truthfulness, or perhaps relevance, to his character. The lack of purpose and the search for meaning in his life work make Jimmy an appealing protagonist in this sort of slow- paced, character-driven drama. There is also an edge of genuine desperation to Jimmy and through this trait Eldard gives real weight to a character which otherwise might have been pointless. The supporting players around Eldard are all solid as well, though none quite measure up to the work of the leading man.

The Story Goat, however, is an equally impressive beast but one that works for evil instead of good. Simply put, the events of Roadie are about as bland as you can get. It isn't what I would call "boring" necessarily and yet nothing much happens. Jimmy comes into town, Jimmy pals around with some old friends, and then Jimmy threatens to leave town once more. That's about it. The settings that Roadie inhabits are uninteresting and the dialogue within is unimpressive. As a result, the story undermines Eldard's work and leaves him virtually trapped in a dull and somewhat meaningless world that serves as a stark contrast to the appealing lead character. In the end, neither the Acting Goat nor the Story Goat really win; instead, the two tire out and settle in for a nice nap, a genuine shame considering all that this film had going for it.

Check out my reviews at ieatfilms.com and thesoapboxoffice.blogspot.com

I must confess up to the point of actually watching the Roadie, I had no idea what a roadie was or did. This is not my usual type of movie, however we should strive to challenge and expose ourselves to different movies. Just as you would a different language or cultural in order to grow and mature as an all around individual. The movie was interesting and I thought the plot, made a point in trying to relate to the viewer the regret of decisions that we make as youth, that do not pan out or other wise never manifest themselves. The characters were very likable and came across genuine and authentic in the Roadie, which must be stressed is a very necessary thing in a film like this. There was a feel that that the movies' main character could have been anyone of us: in regards to decision or choices that were made in our lives that never quite pan out. Perhaps you could take it a bit further and say that everyone in there life at least once or twice has not let go of an idea or notion until: well it was to late. Atlas, I would be remiss, if I did not mention that the sound track for the Roadie is excellent.