We’ve all heard the terms “Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘N Roll”. Depending on when you grew up, maybe you were too old when those terms were in vogue. You already had a wife, a home, a mortgage and two kids. Or you were too young. But what if the timing was just right?
Such is the story of the lead character in Roadie, a film scheduled for release next month. It will open in one Manhattan theater on January 6th, and then a second theater in Huntington, NY (where I grew up) on January 20th. So I gather that this film won’t be going into a wide theatrical release. At least not yet.
But speaking of a wide release right now, Roadie is being offered by your local cable company in what they call – On Demand. So in that sense, it is available to most of you as we speak.
The film has a couple of taglines which will basically give you the essence of the film:
You Really Can’t Go Home Again
It Was Fun While it Lasted
So Roadie is about a guy who has worked for a rock & roll band that was once a major name in the music biz. We all know them - Blue Oyster Cult. Jimmy Testagross (played marvelously by Ron Eldard) has been working for the band for 25 years, in countries all over the globe. He’s been a Roadie – carrying the equipment and then setting it up in stadiums, music venues, concert halls, or even small clubs. Then one day, he is fired.
He’s done just that one thing for his whole adult life – and now that he’s in his 40′s – he has to figure out what can he do with his future which is starting right now. But for the moment, he is angry and lost, or lost and angry – the order isn’t important. He’s just facing an emptiness. He has no plans, no goals, and most of all, he has no place he has to be; which for him is the hardest fact of all.
As the Jackson Browne song, The Load Out, reminds us:
Now the seats are all empty
Let the roadies take the stage
Pack it up and tear it down
They’re the first to come and last to leave
Yeah, so Jimmie T who lived the life of a Roadie, so eloquently described by Jackson Brown, is facing the rest of his life and he hasn’t a clue about what comes next.
Directed by Michael Cuesta, this is a small film. The entire arc of the film is about 48 hours. He’s fired, he heads home to Queens, NY. He meets his old nemesis from high school, Randy Stevens, played by Bobby Cannavale. And of course he finds his old girl friend Nikki. She’s played by Jill Hennessy.
Jimmy is going to face a hard reality, and he’s going to face it through the haze that comes in the aftermath of a wild night filled with cigarette smoke, Wild Turkey shots, beer chasers, and lots of nose candy. He’s going to hit bottom and it won’t be a pretty sight.
As I said this is a small film, most of it was shot in a small neighborhood in Queens. But what makes the film special is the small acting gems that you find in this film. Starting with Lois Smith as Jimmy’s Mom. She’s not quite doddering, but she’s forgetful, and she’s maintained the hopes and beliefs in her son through these many years – even without seeing him. But your heart goes out to her. While Smith’s character is not quite living in a fantasy world, she’s not all the ways into reality either.
Bobby Cannavale plays Randy. He’s mean, he’s jealous, and the animosity between he and Jimmy, has never been extinguished. You’re not going to like this Randy Stevens, and that’s because Bobby C has simply nailed this role. From some of his sneers, sideways or sidelong glances at Jimmy, right up to some false gestures of male bonding – Randy is transparent. We know nothing good is going to come from this meeting or of his relationship with Jimmy. Ever.
I always loved Jill Hennessy – going all the way back to her role as ADA Claire Kincaid in Law & Order, a role she had for four seasons (1993-1996). Here she’s playing her true age – 43. Her role has her as a still aspiring singer/songwriter. She still has feelings for Jimmy but as you watch, you can just tell that she is struggling with those feelings. This is a supporting role of course, but I loved her as Nikki. Nikki is both strong and she’s touching. When she’s supposed to be tough you can see the vulnerability not quite hidden beneath the character’s surface. Her life has had its own series of heartbreaking moments – not that we see them, but we hear about them. And in the recounting, Jill’s Nikki is just superb as we watch her listen and react to some unsavory flashbacks in her own life.
But Jimmy is the main character seemingly the entire film revolves around him. His character begins in denial. He cannot get his arms around the fact that he’s been dumped by the band that he worked for after so many years. Jimmy also has troubles deciding between his real life as a roadie and what he tells others (again we will refer to Jackson Browne’s The Load Out).
Now roll them cases out and lift them amps
Haul them trusses down and get’em up them rampsWe do so many shows in a row
And these towns all look the same
We just pass the time in our hotel rooms
And wander ’round backstage
Jimmy tells his Mom and Randy, and even Nikki – that he manages the band, that he arranges the tours, and that he’s even written and produced some of BOC’s songs. Of course, none of that is true.
Jimmy lived the life he dreamt of as a kid – rock & roll. Only he wasn’t front and center on the stage. He was a peripheral. The film only references the glories of a rock & roll band without showing us the 5 star hotels, the drugs, the limos, or even the groupies.
For him, everyday ended the same way and every day began the same way:
Cause when that morning sun comes beating down
You’re going to wake up in your town
But we’ll be scheduled to appear
A thousand miles away from here
This film isn’t really about sex, drugs, and rock & roll. Instead it is about the end of a dream. It’s not so much about good times – instead it was about facing the reality that for Jimmy Testagross – is story whose outcome is uncertain.
Kudos to Director Michael Cuesta and to the potent and powerful performance by the cast who clearly outshine the script. But that’s not a reason to not see this film. By the way – The Load Out is heard over the closing credits.
