99) Anvil! The Story of Anvil

Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2008)


Director: Sacha Gervasi

Starring: Steve 'Lips' Kudlow, Robb Reiner

One of the best reviewed films of last year was an obscure rock documentary directed by the guy who wrote the screenplay for The Terminal, about a band no one had heard of, called Anvil! The Story of Anvil. It was consistently getting five stars and two thumbs ups across the board so I was quite intrigued by it.

At the age of 14 Steve 'Lips' Kudlow and Robb Reiner made a pact to rock together forever. Their band, Anvil, has been hailed as 'the demi-gods of Canadian metal' and members of bands like Guns 'n' Roses, Metallica and Motorhead testify to the influence they have had on the world of heavy metal music. But despite this, Anvil has never really hit the big time and Lips and Robb, now in their fifties, are still striving to achieve rock fame and recognition. The documentary follows Anvil on a disastrous tour of Europe and into the studio to record their 13th album in a last ditch effort to realise their dream.

As you watch this hilarious rock documentary you can't help but draw parallels to the brilliant mockumentary This is Spinal Tap, so it takes you a while to work out whether what you are seeing is actually for real or just a gee up, a dilemma that is not helped by the coincidence that one of the subjects name is Robb Reiner (Rob Reiner, with one 'b', directed This is Spinal Tap). But this is all 100% legitimate, which makes it all the more funny, but also all the more profound.

You don't have to be a heavy metal fan to enjoy this documentary and to get something out of this film, because at the end of the day Anvil! The Story of Anvil is not actually a film about heavy metal. It is a film about following dreams. It is a film about two guys who have spent their entire adult lives pursuing a goal and are now confronted by the probability that they may never actually achieve that goal. In that regard it is a film which anyone can relate to. Everyone has dreams, everyone has ambitions, and while some may pursue those dreams harder than others, ultimately very few people can say at the end of their lives that they achieved their wildest dreams. This film asks questions about how far you should go, how much you should spend, how much you should put your family through, in order to follow your dream.

The two best friends appear to be a really odd couple. On the one hand you have Lips. He is exactly what you'd expect a 50 year old who has been in a heavy metal band that hasn't quite made it for 35 years to look like and act like. He's a little ball of energy and enthusiasm. His long hair is a wiry mess and he's only ever seen wearing old band t-shirts, usually of his band. Robb Reiner on the other hand is not at all what you'd expect. He is a really softly spoken, contemplative guy. He paints! At one point he takes the camera on a tour of his house showing off the different paintings that he has done. While you can understand that Lips has the kind of personality that would believe that success is always just around the corner, you struggle to see how Robb could have stayed faithful for so many years. It's a bit of a shame that the film focuses so heavily on Lips because I found Robb to be the more intriguing figure and it would have been nice to explore his story more.

As I was watching this film I kept thinking to myself that Lips sounded really familiar. I spent most of the film racking my brain trying to work out who he sounded like, and it was really starting to bug me. Then about 15mins from the end it hit me. He sounds a lot like a slightly higher pitched version of Alf, the cat eating alien from the planet Melmac. Slightly off putting during moments of high emotion (it is at these moments of high emotion that he sounds most Alf-like).

The documentary form has really re-emerged over the last ten to fifteen years. Michael Moore brought documentaries back into the mainstream and you'll get a number of documentaries a year getting releases in local megaplexes when that was unheard of before then. But while we are seeing more documentaries being released, the documentaries we are seeing tend to be a bit depressing. It's all been a bit doom and gloom lately. Anvil! The Story of Anvil is the antidote to the recent spate of demoralising documentaries by presenting a story which, despite showing a journey with more downs than ups, is amazingly optimistic in tone. The film is at times legitimately funny but is also genuinely touching and profound. You may start the film laughing at Lips and Robb, but by the end you are well and truly on their side.