Tragicomically reminiscent of the mock rockumentary, “This Is Spinal Tap,” filmmaker Sacha Gervasi’s “Anvil! The Story of Anvil” is simultaneously a sad tale of disillusionment and a heartwarming crowd-pleaser about the fulfillment of dreams.
The trajectory of “Anvil” begins and continues differently than any other rockumentary. It does not document the rise and subsequent fall of its subject; this band from Toronto had neither. So why do we care?
The film begins with interviews featuring metal demigods such as Lars Ulrich of Metallica and Lemmy of Motörhead citing Anvil as one of the heaviest metal acts they have ever seen. Archival footage depicts Anvil playing alongside Bon Jovi and the Scorpions at a massive metal festival in Japan in the 1980s. Cut to present: Steve “Lips” Kudlow, Anvil’s vocalist and lead guitarist, is working for a children’s cafeteria catering service. Robb Reiner (not to be confused with the film director of the same name) is the band’s drummer and Lips’ other half. The two seemingly has-beens are actually never-weres coping with what they feel they have been cheated out of: widespread fame and vast fortune. Anvil is depicted playing a spottily attended European tour, struggling with the reality of their day jobs and bickering throughout the recording of their 13th album without any management or record label.
Equally hilarious, pathetic and inspiring, the film is somewhat ambiguous in its approach. At times, it seems to parody these two aging rockers for their almost pitiful delusions of grandeur that they subscribe to. Conversely, it seems to sympathize with their consistently bad luck, and it reveres them for their unbridled enthusiasm and fervent tenacity.
These men, Lips in particular, have a profound sense of dedication to their craft and an unabashed confidence in their talent, demonstrated by their persistent touring and recording. They resign themselves to playing for crowds of five people and for less money than they were initially promised.
One of the film’s objectives is to ascertain why this band never took off like many of their contemporaries of similar or even inferior caliber. The band and the filmmakers cannot seem to come up with a conclusive reason as to why they were never able to hit it big. Their incessant failure can be attributed to a conglomeration of bad luck, poor management and mediocre record engineering, but there is no singular, clearly identifiable reason as to why things did not work out.
Perhaps, because of this, Lips and Robb rock on and patiently wait for the big break they are sure will come their way.
The film succeeds in evoking myriad emotions. Certain parts of the film seem to channel Metallica’s rock-doc, “Metallica: Some Kind of Monster,” and these scenes are simultaneously heartbreaking and laughter-inducing. The fights, the crying and the subsequent reconciliation are pitiful to witness because they have had nothing in terms of fame and fortune, and more often than not, it seems like they will have nothing but their dreams. Their goal, however unrealistic and evasive they may be, are respectable only because of how hard they work to achieve them and how much faith they have that their aspirations will eventually be realized.
““ Patrick Mallon
E-mail Mallon at pmallon@media.ucla.edu.