GARAGE DAYS (2 outta 5 stars) I suppose every rock music fan who doesn't actually join a band wants to write about how cool it *would* be to join one. Thankfully, not all of them succumb to the temptation. Unfortunately, all too many of these paeans to this imagined "coolness" are foisted off on unsuspecting movie-goers (or book readers). Practically every one of these "tributes to the spirit of rock and roll" is exactly the same story. The hero is a nice guy who devotes his whole life to the band (most likely the alter ego of the author). There is a wild and crazy drummer (most likely patterned after "Animal" from "The Muppet Show") who likes to drink and/or take drugs. There is the band's second-in-command who gets jealous, thinking that the hero is taking advantage of him (though of course the hero would *never* be that despicable). There is a chick in the band, too... every fictional rock band has to have a token chick in it... who sleeps with at least one male member before the story ends. Then there has to be the slightly inept manager who keeps making funny mistakes (like sending the band to the wrong gig) and gets the major blame for the band's lack of success... but, when all is said and done, gosh darn it, he was there from the beginning and he's as much a part of the band as anyone so they can't just boot him out. Find all these clichés and MORE in this by-the-numbers effort by talented director Alex ("The Crow", "Dark City")Proyas. About the only thing this movie has going for it is a nice selection of songs on the soundtrack. There are lots of wild, flashy camera tricks and needless SFX... but all they signify is that Proyas saw "Trainspotting", too. The most annoying thing about this movie is that it's big punchline (when the band finally does get its big break we find out that the band really *does* suck) is given away in the advertising taglines on the posters and the DVD covers: "What if you finally got your big break and you just plain sucked?" The one original moment in the movie and they give it away in the advertising. No wonder this movie never got a theatrical release to speak of.
Review of Garage Days
