ANVIL: THE STORY OF ANVIL (2008)

Country: Canada

Genre(s): Documentary

Director: Sacha Gervasi

Cast: Steve Kudlow / Robb Reiner / Glenn Five

Plot

Now in their fifties, the members of the long-forgotten Canadian heavy metal band Anvil give one last go at rock stardom, persevering through a constant cycle of opportunity and disappointment.

What I Liked

This is a movie I’ve been meaning to watch for a while.  I consider myself a metal fan but I must be honest, until I’d heard about this movie a couple of years ago I’d never heard of Anvil.  Once I saw the trailer for the documentary, though, I learned a little more about the group yet never did get around to seeing the film.  I knew it would be about an underrated, down-and-out, aging rock band going on a tour and searching for the stardom that has eluded them for decades.  When I finally did sit down to watch it today, I really expected more comedy than anything else, one of those documentaries that mocks its subjects as much as it pays tribute to them.  I definitely did not the emotional ride that “Anvil: The Story of Anvil” took me on.  I certainly didn’t expect to find myself fighting back tears on more than one occasion.

Look through a list of Anvil song titles and you’ll come across one shallow subject after another: “Toe Jam,” “Pussy Poison,” “Blood on the Playground,” “Cramps,” “Holy Wood,” “Mattress Mambo,” “Show Me Your Tits,” the list goes on.  Yet the film made about the band is anything but shallow.  In fact, it serves as an unforgettable portrait of love, of all things.  The love that Steve Kudlow and Robb Reiner, Anvil’s founding members, have for one another.  The love that their respective family members have for them, patiently putting up with their absurd pursuit of stardom.  The love for making music shared by Kudlow and Reiner.  And the die-hard love that Anvil’s ever shrinking fan base continues to have for this ultimate underdog of rock bands.  In the face of all the evidence to the contrary and one disappointment after another, these people all cling to their love to keep them dedicated to Anvil and what it has come to represent for them: faith in pursuing one’s dreams, no matter what.

As I watched it all, I found myself at first just thinking how pathetic these guys were.  Their music sounds dated, their clothing is even more dated, some of their fans are numbskulls, and yet they seem completely oblivious to all of the signs that the world has passed them by.  But it doesn’t take long to really find these men not only likable but admirable and inspiring.  Their passion for what they do and their refusal to accept any obstacle that gets in the way of what makes life valuable for them is a lesson for anyone to take to heart.  A lot of movies (most of them fictional) present the idea that if you follow your dreams you will achieve success.  “Anvil: The Story of Anvil,” presents a different idea; that following the dream is in itself the success, regardless of the outcome.

What I Didn’t Like

The members of Anvil and their supporters would have you believe that this band was every bit as good as their more financially successful U.S. contemporaries like Metallica and Anthrax.  Anyone who compares their music with those of the other bands I’ve listed won’t take long to see that this is not true.  Anvil certainly had some technical ability and infectious riffs to their credit.  Yet their music lacks both the serious approach and creativity that the more successful metal bands of their era displayed.  Anvil and their supporters act like the band’s lack of success is purely because of bad management and even worse luck.  While these things certainly didn’t help, the reasons they didn’t “make it big” are plain to see.  They aren’t good looking.  None of them are particularly brilliant or charismatic.  They fight with each other a lot.  Their lyrics are trite.  Their stage show relied on cheap and unentertaining gimmicks.  They never changed or developed their musical approach.  They’re from Canada.  And they constantly wear fanny packs.  But to focus on all these things would of course miss the point of the film.  In their own minds, Anvil are destined for stardom.  And it is that passion and determination which ultimately won them international acclaim through this documentary.

Most Memorable Scene

Apparently Kudlow and Reiner have a pretty tenuous friendship, one that has resulted in violence on more than one occasion and glimpses of that tension are caught in this documentary.  Yet their love for one another is evident in every single scene, never more so than when, after a rant about the pressure he feels to achieve success for his bandmates and family, Kudlow makes an offhand reference to suicide.  Reiner jumps right in, saying “I''ll stop you.”  It’s really a simple statement, but the moment is clearly filled with emotional turmoil between the two of them.  The dedication of these two to each other, even as one man considers ending it all, is profoundly touching.

My Rating: 4 out of 5