Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2008)

I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Steve 'Lips' Kudlow is the lead guitarist and Robb Reiner is the drummer of Canadian heavy metal band Anvil. They get praises from the heavy metal Gods and their compatriots from the early 80s but nobody seems to know what happened to them. The simple answer is that they have never stopped. Lips and Robb knew each other from school and promised to rock to old age. They have families and menial jobs. It soon becomes obvious that they're badly managed. They have trouble getting paid. Lips tries to reconnect with producer Chris CT Tsangarides who made their acclaimed album Metal on Metal. Is it the end of the road or maybe the guys can reclaim their earlier glory.Early on, this seems to a standard where-are-they-now story. The first scene with Lips had him talking about food. It sounded like a shelter kitchen and one wonders. It turns out that they're just simply been grinding along. It doesn't feel like a sexy story. However, it is very human and very poignant. The band's dedication and perseverance is unbelievable. This is actually quite a feel-good story.

A few years ago there seem to be a lot of odd documentaries around – quirkumentaries, if you will. They were on TV, they were in the cinemas and Anvil was one of them that appealed to me on this basis. Sold as Spinal Tap but real, I perhaps had too high expectations for this film but in fairness I suppose it is a sort of Spinal Tap as we take a metal band that never quite made it and follow them through a shabby European tour and other mini disappointments as they follow their dreams to limited success. As a story it isn't one that will be driven along by the events but, as with many films like this it is one that relies on the charm of its oddity to engage.Fortunately Anvil mostly does this and there is sufficient charm to appeal to those with no interest in the music itself (I'm no metal head to say the least). The ramshackle nature of the events are part of it but more importantly is that generally the people are cool and sort of just take it on the chin. There are a few fights and what not but Anvil is not "Basketball Wives" or something like that where it is all about fake drama and forced melodrama, but rather this is tension that is founded in a very normal reality of people. The focus on Steve is a key part of this working and the film is edited around him really well to give the story a human face throughout. He is an odd-ball for sure but he is a nice unassuming guy and it is hard not to like him and wish him all the best.Ultimately the film is a bit slight because it is more a mild journey than impacting documentary or narrative driven it does still work. Not quite as good as the Spinal Tap comparisons suggest, Anvil is still a charming and enjoyable little quirkumentary that gets by on the unassuming nature of the "cast" and their rambling journey. Not sure if it is worth it for metal fans, but for sure fans of things like King of Kong or other in this genre will get a kick out of this quirky little film.

This documentary chronicling an old-fashioned Canadian heavy metal band is unexpectedly emotionally affective and rich in absurdist ?This is Spinal Tap? moments. Director Sacha Gervasi creates a loving portrait of the natural outcome of a teenage promise kept between band founders Steve ?Lips? Kudlow and Robb ?Robbo? Reiner to rock until they were old men. That day has come without the band graduating out of obscurity and the men must persist in trying to land gigs and a recording contract ? a mammoth challenge even if they were in their 20s and worked in a more contemporary genre. Our heroes persevere through their Spinal Tap moments including missed trains, getting lost in Prague and the ridicule of family members. However, it the fact that they do become the heroes of the piece that speaks to Gervasi?s editing skill and the way he frames the depth of the relationship between Lips and Robbo. So effective is Gervasi that when only 174 people attend an Anvil show in a 5,000 seat arena the audience?s response is not laughter but groaning. You wind up rooting for these guys and their final, again Spinal Tap-esque, triumph in Japan lets you leave the theater feeling virtual vindication. I'm pre-outraged that the academy didn't nominate this as best documentary. Find a theater that showing it ? you won?t be disappointed.

The most of people in the world probably put a priority on the safey when they choose the most important aspect in their lives. "The safety for the own future" That's the life all about, isn't it? We just give up the dreams such as be a musician, dancer, or painter, and get boring "but decent" jobs in order to spent happy life in the future.But what is the happiness anyway? Isn't it sarcastic too many people work hard and do some crappy jobs to get "happy life" and end up being "unhappy" because of their work. Isn't it better if you chase your dream and end up poor but have no regrets in your life. In this film, Anvil prove that's one of the way of living.Chasing their dream and giving their middle finger to the safety for the future. After I watched the film it got me thinking for a while. Maybe Lips and Robb didn't get a big house and enough pension for rest of their life, and they did'nt even succeed as a band. But they've been doing what they wanted through their entire life and that's the thing we call happiness, isn't it? Anyway, the movie is just great. Everybody can enjoy the movie without knowledge for Heavy Metal History.