Frank (2014)

good back-story, and good acting

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

I wouldn't normally give any film 10, but I do it here to make a point (and because I can't give it a 9.5). Any movie this left of centre was always going to provoke divided reactions, so the 1's and 2's and the disgusted comments don't come as a surprise.What's weirder than the movie itself is that it is actually based on the keyboardist's actual experience.I found this movie funny at times, intensely dramatic and tremendously moving.Definitely NOT for those who just want to be satisfyingly 'entertained' with all their questions answered by the end of the last act.

Movie is crap, but it has something that forces you too see it through. It has some kind of charm or whatever.5/10"Maggie Gylenhall is perhaps the least attractive human being alive." - I don't know if this is generally true, but in this movie she certainly is.

The last time I saw a movie where I bought the soundtrack immediately following was for Swiss Army Man. But that movie wasn't about music - it just happened to have a fantastic soundtrack. Frank IS about music (and musicians), and the fictional band isn't just "pretty darn good for a fictional band" - THEY ARE EXCELLENT AS A BAND. I was sorta thinking Joy Division and The Residents, but somebody else said Flaming Lips and Jim Morrison, and I can kinda see that too.The film very much nails the creative process too. On the soundtrack it was great to hear the film's improvisation and genesis version of "I Love You All" as well as the finished studio production (that doesn't appear in the film per se, but would have been the fictional band's attempt at recording a rehearsed and more developed version of the song). I relate to this process, as I've been in several (original music) bands for 35+ years (earning several hundred dollars in total so far, so yeah, it was a success!)

An office worker with pop dreams, Jon (Domhnall Gleeson), joins a touring band with an unpronounceable name. Turns out the charismatic frontman, Frank (Michael Fassbender—though you may not recognize him at first), is very, very good at doing what Jon's been doing badly—improvising hooky songs about the little things in life, including a ragged tuft in a carpet and a smelly bathroom in a bar. After a year of woodshedding at a remote spot in Ireland, Jon thinks the band's ready for some exposure… Not-so-hilarious complications ensue, and the film really comes together in the final scenes, which are unexpectedly poignant. Even if you're put off by all the indie shenanigans—my wife thought the big papier-mâché head was creepy; I thought it was a therapeutic prop, like David Byrne's big suit—I urge you to hang around for Frank's last song. Good work by Maggie Gyllenhaal as the temperamental Theremin player and François Civil as the disdainful French guitarist. Fans of musical savants like Captain Beefheart and Daniel Johnston, even Wild Man Fischer (if any), should definitely watch!