Anvil: The Story of Anvil Film Review

1 hr 30 mins.

Starring: Steve "Lips" Kudrow, Robb Reiner, Ivan Hurd, Chris "CT" Tsangerides, Tiziana Arrigoni, Slash, Lars Ulrich, Scott Ian, Lemmy, Glenn Gyorfy, Gary Greenblatt, Tom Araya

Directed by: Sacha Gervasi

MPAA Rating: NR

Rating: *** stars (out of 4 stars)

One of the worst things that an artist can experience is being in existence for many years while inspiring other successful talents that took from their original blueprint en route to glory and wider fame. And to top things off...this very same under-appreciated artist has nothing more to show for their musical contributions but being tagged as has-beens before they got to be a major force the first time around the block. Well, director Sachaa Gervasi uncovers the obscurity blanket from veteran Canadian metal rockers Anvil and gives them a cinematic salute in the outrageously entertaining documentary Anvil!: The Story of Anvil.

Clearly, Gervasi is sympathetic to these relic rockers from the Great White North that toiled in the unkind shadows of their so-called bitter blood, sweat and tears only to carry on with chaotic business as usual while battling in-fighting and other miscellaneous demons that materialized within their boisterous bubble. Painfully, the manic musicians never tasted the sweet pie of success that certain upstart competition and/or copycat admirers benefited from with a better stroke of luck through greater exposure and undoubtedly dependable connections and organization. Whatever the cause for Anvil's lack of attention in the wild and profitable world of hardcore metal music is certainly out there for speculation. Nevertheless, Gervasi's admiration and disappointment for Anvil is chronicled with sheer exuberance for a little-known wacky band that had to struggle for name recognition as they continuously aged as the time has seemingly passed them by so effortlessly.

It is inevitable that Anvil!: The Story of Anvil will no doubt cause many to recall the similarities of odd-like and self-destructive humorous behavior as demonstrated in the cult classic This Is Spinal Tap. This is not necessarily a bad comparison as the bad boys of Anvil are just as petulant and pronounced in their outlandish mode of ridicule and other over-the-top peculiarities. At least director Rob Reiner's Spinal Tappers were satirized fictionally whereas Anvil drummer Robb Reiner and his bunch are the real deal and very well could have been one of the targeted victims for the aforementioned Spinal Tap's source of metal-headed mockery.

Filmmaker Gervasi, it is revealed, was a teenaged roadie for Anvil back in the mid-80s. Fondly and fiercely, Gervasi recalls the collaboration of Toronto teens Steve "Lips" Kudrow and Robb Reiner hooking up in 1973 to play music only to professionally form the band Anvil five mere years later. Of course being associated with a meager independent label didn't boost Anvil's record sales or crazed and crafty showmanship when playing live gigs (anyone care to top the antics of promoting bondage and dildo-strumming gestures during a Japanese concert?). Although Gervasi worships and adores his old mates to death he never sugarcoats the behind-the-scenes pettiness and nastiness that befell his dismissed hard-rocking heroes.

Naturally, we are treated to intimate insights about the group from big-time head-bangers such as iconic Slash, Lemmy Kilmister and Lars Ulrich that all admit how instrumental Anvil was to them musically and what a shame that they never achieved the metal mania status that was theirs for the taking. Additionally, friends, family and various associates chime in on Lips and Robb's devotion to the creative juices that flowed in the music group despite the lack of financial prominence and prestige that supposedly came with the touted territory of a metal rocker.

The shifting of past and promising times in the 1980's (when Anvil rocked the house with legendary long-haired luminaries such as Whitesnake and Bon Jovi) to the lean years in the millennium that showcase the fifty-something fossil-like metal-heads trying to sustain that dream to rock and be respectfully remembered. The exasperating attempt to record the band's thirteenth studio album is utterly frustrating amidst the commotion internally and externally. Anvil's musical peers and obviously Gervasi (not to mention the group's limited fan base) all feel a genuine kindred spirit to Lips and Reiner and want that sense of cultivating kinship to gravitate to a faceless metal band that never saw that golden spotlight of opportunity.

Assuredly, Anvil needs to desperately be rescued from the lyrical doldrums that persisted in their musical longevity. Sadly, Gervasi's valentine revelation to his former heralded musical mates in Anvil!: The Story of Anvil may not necessarily constitute a surge in popularity on the scale of Metallica-esque proportions. Still, the word is out on the lengthy struggles and past-and-present dysfunction of a Canadian metal band looking for redemption and that piece of the profitable pie. Interestingly, there should be tons of hard rock fans looking to see if these forgotten pioneers have what it takes to become household holdovers in the name of metal-bashing momentum.

Hey, the proof may be in the pudding after all...who knows? As for Megadeth and the ilk these well-established known acts pretty much not need to worry about losing sleep anytime soon. It's too bad because Anvil is worth keeping one eye open for given their storied contribution to the metal rock scene buried in the chaotic coloring of an inexplicable blue-collared career in oblivion.