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| DIRECTED BY |
| Bruce McDonald
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| STARRING |
| Hugh Dillon |
| Callum Keith Rennie |
| John Pyper-Ferguson |
| Bernie Coulson |
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Certainly not a rip-off of �This is Spinal Tap� for its admittedly darker ambience and main concentration on its characters� dreary lives rather than obvious laughs (although it�s certainly funny as well.) Sure it�s the same general idea, but McDonald cleverly references �Spinal Tap� in an obvious way in a conversation between Joe and Billy, clearly stating that he�s not trying to hide anything here.
But even if these characters may all be completely truthful depictions of real people within the punk rock music lifestyle, I didn�t buy a lot of it. For instance - Pipefitter, the drummer, comes across as a particularly foolish caricature who�s really just there to provide the inane one-liners and let you marvel at his stupidity. Every other band member, on the other hand, seems genuine enough � there has to be someone who wants to move away from this lifestyle, and that�s Billy, which in turn leads to much repressed disappointment on behalf of Joe, the lead singer. And then there�s John, the bass player, who�s really just there to add some extra humorous detail to the film � he happens to have a speech problem that can�t be disciplined without his pills. But the scene in which he burns his diary, the source of his thoughts and private expressions, proves to be quite effective.
The whole Bucky Haight subplot is interminably annoying, however � it includes a nauseating celebration/party/ritual sequence that takes a bit of willpower to struggle through. The tragic ending also seems a little forced and ill-developed � we should�ve been given some better insight into the seemingly monumental importance of Joe and Billy�s friendship other than the fact that they have �good times� with each other. Nonetheless, I affirm that this is the best �mockumentary� that I�ve seen for its admirable fusion of the comedic with the heartfelt.
