True North
Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2008)
directed by Sacha Gervasi
rating: 2 out of 5 cravats
on DVD from Netflix
When asked about the influence of Anvil, it’s obvious that "Lemmy" Kilmister from Motörhead can barely remember the band. In some ways, that makes his the most appropriate of the celebrity interviews that begin this plus-sized episode of Behind the Music. Few bands stay together as long as Anvil, adds Slash, but he means that few friendships last as long as that of Robb Reiner and Steve Kudlow. Anvil was more than a lead singer and a drummer; “the band,” in its original incarnation, broke up.
Anvil! The Story of Anvil isn’t the story of Anvil so much as the story of two amigos who rely on one another when everything else in life is wrong. There is no comeback because success is irrelevant to the bond that Reiner and Kudlow share. These are adventurers and free spirits who struggle with addictions and whose lives did not go the way they planned. The first half hour is touching not because it's sad to watch a rock n' roll frontman take out garbage, but because it lets us share the routines of two best buds who are lucky enough to live in the same city.
I'm not convinced that Kudlow is any happier in front of thousands of fans in Japan than he is at his own 50th birthday bash in a bar in Ontario. I love that Anvil sounds great in the moments when we get to hear them play. It would be silly to say that the music isn't an extension of the men, or to begrudge the group the renewed interest that the documentary no doubt delivered. But with or without Ian Scott, Lips and Robb would still be pals, and they don't need me to tell them that.
directed by Sacha Gervasi
rating: 2 out of 5 cravats
on DVD from Netflix
When asked about the influence of Anvil, it’s obvious that "Lemmy" Kilmister from Motörhead can barely remember the band. In some ways, that makes his the most appropriate of the celebrity interviews that begin this plus-sized episode of Behind the Music. Few bands stay together as long as Anvil, adds Slash, but he means that few friendships last as long as that of Robb Reiner and Steve Kudlow. Anvil was more than a lead singer and a drummer; “the band,” in its original incarnation, broke up.
Anvil! The Story of Anvil isn’t the story of Anvil so much as the story of two amigos who rely on one another when everything else in life is wrong. There is no comeback because success is irrelevant to the bond that Reiner and Kudlow share. These are adventurers and free spirits who struggle with addictions and whose lives did not go the way they planned. The first half hour is touching not because it's sad to watch a rock n' roll frontman take out garbage, but because it lets us share the routines of two best buds who are lucky enough to live in the same city.
I'm not convinced that Kudlow is any happier in front of thousands of fans in Japan than he is at his own 50th birthday bash in a bar in Ontario. I love that Anvil sounds great in the moments when we get to hear them play. It would be silly to say that the music isn't an extension of the men, or to begrudge the group the renewed interest that the documentary no doubt delivered. But with or without Ian Scott, Lips and Robb would still be pals, and they don't need me to tell them that.
posted by NPK at 4:53 AM
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