Review of Not Fade Away (2012) by Thomas W — 03 Feb 2013

David Chase, the creator of HBO's The Sopranos, steps behind the camera once again with this semi-autobiographical tale about life in 1960's New Jersey that is heavily influenced by rock-n-roll, rock-n-roll, rock-n-roll .

.. and parents. The writer-director bravely asks audiences to give another New Jersey household with James Gandolfini as head of the family a chance, as he tells his story of his early days in a rock band influenced by the burgeoning American music scene and the British Invasion.

Chase's story centers upon his alter-ego Doug (John Magaro - Liberal Arts, The Box), a nerdishly-quiet, middle-class, not-so-popular student whose closest friends are all inspired and empowered by music (much to the dismay of his honest, working class father, Gandolfini).

The boys form a band they call "The Twylight Zones" in tribute to the popular-at-the-time Rod Serling anthology series, The Twilight Zone (I said nerdish!). Gene (Jack Huston - 'Boardwalk Empire', Factory Girl) -- a spoiled wealthy boy who is used to getting his way -- assigns himself lead singer and doles out the remaining roles for the band.

While the band hopes for big things, many of them never seem to really get it together (it doesn't help that some go off to college) which is evident at one of their first gigs at a fellow friend's party.

As Gene suffers an unfortunate accident, Doug steps up to the microphone and surprises nearly everyone with far superior vocal skills (which leads to even more rifts between the band mates as the film progresses).

I highly enjoyed this scene as Doug nailed his cover of the Rolling Stones' 1964 version of 'Time Is On My Side' ... also enjoying the moment is upper-class, popular-and-pretty Grace (Bella Heathcote - Dark Shadows, In Time).

The film follows the deterioration of the band (Chase found another love in film so this is not a spoiler), the up-and-down relationship of Doug and Grace, and the tumultuous home lives this generation had with their parents as cultures clashed in ways they never had before.

The acting on display is all fine and the soundtrack to the film is probably one of the best of the year (if you enjoy retro sound). The film ends up taking on too much and Chase still hasn't figured out how to conclude a story (groan); but most of Not Fade Away is enjoyable.