Frank

Description

Outsized ambition meets a brick wall of reality in this absurdist comedy with a moving thread of melancholy woven through it. Stardom is hardly in the cards for an aggressively avant garde rock band with an unpronounceable name and fronted by a musical savant who wears a giant fiberglass head 24/7. Those are just minor details to fame-obsessed new keyboard player Jon (Domhnall Gleeson) who plans to ride the group’s coattails to success. Even as he grows close to The Soronprfbs’ fragile leader Frank (Michael Fassbender), Jon never questions what might happen should the outfit move out of its cult status bubble. Loosely inspired by co-screenwriter Jon Ronson’s adventures as a sideman with Frank Sidebottom, late British comedian Chris Sievey’s musical alter ago, there are lunatic moments that would not be out of place in This Is Spinal Tap, such as when Frank composes an ode to a stray tuft of carpet or co-star Maggie Gyllenhaal offers a narcoleptic cover of “On Top of Old Smoky.” That fake head with its perpetually startled eyes is part of the gag, but as Jon—and the audience—get to know him, Frank’s prosthetic is less and less of a joke. With his performance limited to his voice and body language, Fassbender conveys Frank’s humor and inner turmoil and also his growing conflict: He is not immune to Jon’s flattery or opposed to his subordinate’s machinations on the band’s behalf. But having lived for so long in his own head—in both of his heads—is he really prepared to step into the spotlight? –Pam Grady

Film Details