GARAGE DAYS (2002) ¢ ¢ ¢
D: Alex Proyas
Kick Gurry, Pia Miranda, Brett Stiller,
Chris Sandrinna, Russell Dykstra, Maya Stange
We've all known somebody, at some point, who had a rock-&-roll band. It's practically universal. Usually just a group of friends practicing in somebody's basement and trying to write a few original songs to go with some standard repertoire of covers. Sometimes they landed gig at a local club or bar, or opened for some better-known act. A few might've gone beyond that, but not many. This movie is about a group of bandmates kicking around Sydney, Australia, and trying to keep the dream alive, hoping for that one big break. You can tick off the essential plot points as they occur - the fights, the breakups, the shifting alliances, the romantic entanglements, the rivalries, the drugs taken and the lessons learned - but it's all handled with a refreshing lack of pretense, a loopy sense of humor and a genuine affection for its characters, two of whom share one of the great screen kisses of all time. The climactic big break doesn't come off the way you might expect, but it's perfect in the context of the film.
