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Heavy is the head that wears the crown — or the massive papier-mâché helmet. That, more or less, is the moral of “Frank,” a quirky dramedy about an avant-garde indie band, Soronprfbs, led by the eponymous frontman (a masked Michael Fassbender). Like most of this movie’s virtues, the familiar theme is hidden in plain sight. It doesn’t take a detective to apply such meanings as the shouldering of artistic burden to a revered man who literally wears his artistic trademark on his shoulders. And yet, Frank’s backstory, when it comes, still registers as surprising.
Additionally, it’s quite telling that the band’s name is utterly unpronounceable, seeing as “Frank” is a film that wears its goofy pretense on its sleeve. It does offer an everyman protagonist in the form of Jon (Domhnall Gleeson), a practically talentless aspiring musician who comes to join group through an unfortunate event (a previous band member’s suicide attempt). Once ingratiated, Jon particularly clashes with Clara (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a stubbornly aloof theremin player who’d sooner die than sell out.
The struggle of art versus commerce is another chief theme in “Frank”— a struggle that not only boils between Jon and Clara (he wants fame; she wants eccentric solace), but clashes within Frank’s shielded cranium. It’s a theme that works far better here than it did in this summer’s “Begin Again,” which also saw a ragtag band try to record an album on the cheap and in the wild (here, the street’s of New York are replaced by Ireland’s countryside). Whereas “Begin Again” mocked formula only to stick to one, “Frank” upends common themes for its own purposes and pumps the break on the oddities just enough to let them down easy.
The story itself is actually based in fact: Co-writer Jon Ronson was once the bandmate of Chris Sievey, whose alter-ego, Frank Sidebottom, rocked a familiar pinata-esque headpiece, and served as the inspiration for the title character. Ronson’s experiences help ground “Frank” and shape it as a tribute to rock’s strange tendrils, and the forms of compromise that can cause them to tangle and severe.
Frank
R
Three reels out of four
Opens tomorrow at the Ritz at the Bourse
Recommended Rental
The Normal Heart
Available Tuesday
Odds are the indulgent Ryan Murphy will never release a perfect piece of work, but he does a powerful job of translating Larry Kramer’s landmark AIDS play, “The Normal Heart,” to the screen for HBO. With a largely gay cast (featuring Matt Bomer, Jim Parsons and the amazing Joe Mantello), the film is a step forward for LGBT representation. Now let’s just see more of that at the multiplex. ■
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