Roadie

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."

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.

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?

Roadie is a pretty good movie that's only about so-so while you're watching it, however the movie really resonated with me in the days after watching it. I appreciated the effort to make Ron Eldard's character more then just a one dimensional lump of regret...i also like his constant flip flopping between "what have i got to be regretful of? i did what i wanted to!" and "i've totally wasted my life" throughout, as i think that's exactly what a guy in his situation in real life would think upon coming home after twenty five years on the road only to realize he's right back where he was when he first left. While the interactions between Ron Eldard and the rest of the cast kind of go back and fourth on the believable scale (Bobby Cannavale and Jill Hennessey are merely so-so as respectively a guy who used to taunt him in high school and his wife who was a long ago crush for Ron Eldard's character..it probably doesn't help that neither of these characters are likable in the least.) Its Ron Eldard himself who keeps this movie going forward...there are a lot of little moments throughout where his reaction to what's going on in front of him is perfect. Eldard really captures both the self-centeredness and the basic good heartedness of this guy...and while the director and the writer deserve all the credit for keeping this character from veering too far into either direction--it really falls to Eldard to keep him from appearing to be both a selfish jerk and a mopey sad sack punching bag for the rest of the clearly unhappy people in the film to abuse. It really is a good performance that makes the whole film really seem a lot better then it prob would be with somebody else in the lead. Again as a whole the film is only all right--but as a character study of this guy trying to figure out the rest of his life while burdened with guilt about how he led the majority of his life so far--it was quite well done.

Also as someone who lives here--i did love the full on location shooting that's happening here, while i could do without Jill Hennesey's condescending attitude towards "never leaving queens" i did love seeing certain locations on screen--enough to wanna shout "that's near my house" to anyone who was in the theater with me (of course seeing as how there were only about two other people there--i wisely did not.)

I was really moved by this film , great performances from Lois Smith and Ron Eldard - like the previous reviewer wrote there is great chemistry between them and none of the performances are hackneyed or overworked , its a perfectly practical plot and it allows for the cast to put in some shining examples - the motel scene is particularly effective, as are the kitchen scenes with the Lois Smith doing some excellent pottering ! Don't know why the the reviews haven't been more glowing for this its a little gem of a film , one for reflection and not gushy or sentimental its pitch perfect , great soundtrack too even though there's no 'Reaper from the blue oyster cult

I heartily recommend you watch this with a hangover and you phone your parents and tell them how great they are!