Review of Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2008) by Zane T — 31 Aug 2011

"At fourteen, they made a pact to rock together forever. They meant it.".

At 14, best friends Robb Reiner and Lips made a pact to rock together forever. Their band, Anvil, hailed as the "demi-gods of Canadian metal, " influenced a musical generation that includes Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax, despite never hitting the big time. Following a calamitous European tour, Lips and Robb, now in their fifties, set off to record their 13th album in one last attempt to fulfill their boyhood dreams.

REVIEW.

"Anvil! The Story of Anvil" is a rock documentary that focuses on an extremely influential, yet now totally obscure, Canadian speed trash metal band. That's the story of Steve "Lips" Kudlow who teamed up with his high school buddy Robb Reiner in 1973. By the early 1980s they recorded their seminal album "Metal on Metal" and toured along with Scorpions, Whitesnake and Bon Jovi in Japan. They were to become famous like their peers, yet something didn't work out as Lemmy of Motorhead aptly put it: "sometimes, you have to be in the right place at the right time". 25 years later the two band members live like ordinary people providing for their families through hard work. Director Sacha Gervasi is a long-time fan of the band who has crafted a motion picture that goes from funny (the archival footage of the band) to realistically sincere and poignant (the band's constant struggle with elements out of their control). The movie rings true throughout depicting the band dealing with numerous challenging situations which include: the organizational problems on their European tour, the discord between Kudlow and Reiner while recording their 13th album and the lack of the proper record label which would release their CD. At this point, the movie gets far more universal as it deals with the situation of numerous under-appreciated outfits in the cruel music business. Gervasi never lets things go too dark though retaining the joyous, almost celebral tone of the movie. In a nutshell, "Anvil!" is about never giving up one's dreams no matter what. Gervasi's love letter to the band is surprisingly tender, yet far from glorifying.