Garage Days
is an amiable, playful nothing of a picture. The most impressive
part of that is that it is from Alex Proyas, the director of
two of the most brilliantly oppressive films of the last decade.
With both The Crow and Dark City, Proyas ushered
in the black leather trench coat chic of The Matrix and
serious, disaffected youth everywhere. This time Proyas turns
his visionary eye to something with a bit more color, but a
lot less depth.
The hack pitch of this picture goes would go something like,
"It's The Commitments meets Empire Records,
but it's Australian." The critic just tacks on, "and not quite
as good as either picture."
Freddy (Kick Gurry) has heavy metal wishes and rock and
roll dreams, even when he's busy not satisfying his band's
bass player, Tanya (Pia Miranda). Meanwhile his lead guitar
Joe (Brett Stiller) isn't paying enough attention to his own
girlfriend (Maya Stange). Throw in a drug-obsessed, over-sexed
drummer (Chris Sadrinna) and only the dimmest bulb doesn't
know how to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.
The nice thing is Proyas gets most of the obvious reordering
of these relationships out of the way early, and then enjoys
the ensuing carnage. If the picture has one overly redeeming
feature it's that it takes really standard material and assembles
it a little differently than usual. There is a pregnancy,
a worried father, and a crazy goth chick. All of these are
weaved woven around the band's attempts at getting its first
big break. As much fun as this all sounds, it's at best okay.
Everything
about this film is just okay. No real risks are taken and
therefore no real payoff is received. The cast seems talented
enough but, except for Sadrinna, they don't really get to
show it. Sadrinna gets all the fun, with wide, eye-linered
lids and an odd resemblance to a younger, more exciting Val
Kilmer.
In fact, if this picture has one good excuse it's the potential
use as a 'new talent sampler' for a hurting industry. While
there's more than a fair selection of Aussie acting talent
working these days, a few more wouldn't hurt. Marton Csokas,
while he is certainly tired of hearing it, does an excellent
Russell Crowe-on-a-budget in his role as a sleazy promoter,
and Pia Miranda as a bass player is just as cute as Go-Go's
guitarist Jane Wiedlin.
Many of Garage Days' jokes fall flat because the
subject matter is already so outrageous. One character is
given a book about the 'Painted Bands of the 70's' entitled
Kiss and Make-up. Cute, unless you know this joke title is
the actual title of Gene Simmons' latest book. The only scenes
of true rock and roll rebellion come against the slot machines
that Freddy sees as the vanguard of the enemy. Maybe that's
why the over-the-top performances are the ones that work;
the rest come off real and even real rock and roll doesn't
come off real.
Proyas shows his that he still has chops when it comes to
stimulating visuals - even with ordinary subject matter. A
standard 'dejected in the rain' scene gets a different spin
with huge digital raindrops frozen in the air. The only problem
with the style in this one is that it starts fresh and vibrant,
and by the end it devolves into fairly standard teen comedy
direction. Like Baz Luhrman, Proyas bursts out of the gate
but fails to sustain his breathless pace.
Not the rebellious rock anthem it seems to believe it is,
Garage Days is fine enough bubble gum pop. It's the
kind of movie with a kitschy little curtain call/dance number
to send the crowd home smiling. A few of these kids will go
on to bigger and better things, and Proyas shows his skills
are still intact, they just may not lie in comedy. Destined
to close quietly and be discovered and loved by a few, Garage
Days has the makings of a cult picture - or at least one
of the more watchable features on VH-1's Movies That Rock.
Rating: 
