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by Jim Pappas Published: July 19, 2003
 Andy Anderson, Chris Sadrinna, Kick Gurry, Maya Stange, Russell Dykstra, Pia Miranda, and Brett Stiller get psyched for their big moment in, “Garage Days.” Directed by Alex Proyas (The Crow), written by Proyas, Dave Warner and Michael Udesky, and starring Kick Gurry as Freddy, the lead singer of a band with big dreams, “Garage Days” doesn’t quite deliver the goods but does feature many outstanding acting performances. Along with Gurry, the rest of the cast, featuring Maya Stange as Kate, the object of a love triangle between Freddy and the lead guitar player, Joe (Brett Stiller), Pia Miranda as Tanya the bass player, Chris Sadrinna as Lucy, the drummer, Russell Dykstra as Bruno, the manager/roadie, Andy Anderson as Joe’s father and aged rocker Kevin, Marton Csokas as Shad Kern, the “Manager of the year” and Yvette Duncan as Angie, shines in this slice of life film that asks us to think about the aforementioned dreams, and how maybe, just maybe, little dreams are ultimately just as important as the big ones. Rarely have I seen a film where all of the actors involved are exhibiting their craft on such a high level. Unfortunately, it takes more than great acting to make a great movie, and it is in the story itself where we find weaknesses. I just couldn’t quite wrap myself around the events depicted in the film. Perhaps I could lay the blame for that at the feet of the film’s editor (Richard Learoyd). Based in Sydney, Australia, “Garage Days” takes us along for a ride with the lives of a group of friends and musicians who have been practicing together for a year. They haven’t had an actual gig as the film begins, but they all seem to feel it is their destiny to become big rock stars. Well, at least some of them believe that is their destiny. We watch as each member experiences their own personal reality, and we watch as the relationships between each of them play themselves out. They all have dreams, even if some of those dreams are somewhat pedestrian. I was particularly enthralled with Joe (Brett Stiller) who, after impregnating his girlfriend Kate, adopts a cantaloupe as a surrogate child he names “Melly” and becomes obsessed with proving that he is an ideal father. Tanya the bass player’s dream is to have great sex, and she rates her experiences on a 1-10 scale, finding 10 with Lucy the drummer only after he and she fight. It seems that inflicting pain on others arouses her and Lucy seems to like receiving pain as he spends most of the film ingesting drugs and giving them to others with the results turning out to be less than pleasant for those who’ve ingested them. The soundtrack features AC/DC and a host of other Australian bands, most of whom are familiar to Americans. However, we never get to hear Freddy and his band actually play until the very end of the film when they get to perform on stage at a huge outdoor rock festival called “Homebake.” How they end up there is through a clever bit of manipulation and good fortune based on Freddy’s knowledge of Shad Kern’s affair with the girlfriend of the singer for his biggest act, a band called “Sprimp.” I don’t know what “Sprimp” means, but it is probably Aussie slang for something. Sadly, all of the good acting is finally useless, as the story just isn’t compelling enough for me to recommend the film to many. People who’ve been in garage bands and dreamed of hitting it big will probably relate to the band’s saga, and the interpersonal relationships are interesting, but taken as a whole “Garage Days” just doesn’t represent any movement forward in the rock movie genre. It kind of leaves one with a flat feeling at the end. The film, originally released in Australia in 2002, is available on DVD. Overall Rating: B- |
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