Anvil: The Story of Anvil

This is something as oxymoronic as a sensitive film about some aging die-hard speed-metal rockers, if you can believe it.

Did you ever hear of the Canadian rock band Anvil? Well, just possibly maybe. They had a brief flirt with rock and roll fame in the early eighties, just to disappear almost as quickly from the fan radar. They influenced some contemporary bands that went on to be stratospherically successful and were instrumental(!)in changing the direction of metal rock without ever reaping their just rewards.

In this beautifully photographed movie we get to know two immensely likable characters, Steve "Lips" Kudlow and Robb Reiner, founding members and the only two remaining from the original lineup. Closer than siblings they've pursued their common dream for 35 years. Aging and not in a place in life they ever wanted, they refuse to give it up - but after their 15 minutes of fame it was basically over.

This is a film about how to somehow continue to chase your dream even though it's an impossible one - with some degree of dignity. True, a lot of what they go through isn't exactly dignified, a lot of what they do certainly isn't but somehow with Kudlow's and Reiner's personalities you cannot lose. No amount of bad breaks can ever really break their spirit and Sasha Gervasi never portray them as pathetic.

This certainly isn't your standard from-ashes-to-fame Hollywood melodrama, yet it's really fluid and beautifully done. It doesn't matter if you ever heard of Anvil, or the bands they inspired or even like the music - it's really hard not to be gripped and captivated by their story.

This was probably the funniest movie I've seen all year and also one of the most poignant. The director could have really taken the pi&$# out of these guys and made us laugh at them, and I thought that that's what the movie was going to be about, but it wasn't. It's about two guys who never stopped following their dream and if that sounds corny, well, somehow it works.

I did laugh, hilariously at times, (The manager spelling the name of the town they are in in Sweden with her bad English was a classic) but I also really felt for these guys and wanted them to succeed....even as I realized that they were a bit delusional for keeping on the same path for 30+ years, I also had to admire their tenacity and passion.

I highly recommend this human, funny film.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil begins with testimonials from members of some of the biggest bands of all time; from Guns n' Roses to Metallica. They are all united in their praise for one group which served as an inspiration to each of them in the early 80s. That band was Anvil and footage from a massive concert in Japan shows them sharing the stage with Jon Bon Jovi and Whitesnake, destined to be just as successful as their peers. But it simply never happened. Sacha Gervasi's documentary traces the bands unfortunate history and catches up with them 30 years later, capturing the amazing story of their last-ditch attempt to snatch fame from the jaws of obscurity.

Lips and Robb have been playing music together since they were 14. Now in their 50s they have kept Anvil ticking over, supporting themselves with menial jobs and persisting despite the exasperation of their friends and loved ones. This is a band that really doesn't do it for the money but for the love of the music and the (sometimes disturbing) devotion of the few remaining fans. At this point, their commitment to Anvil seems relatively benign until Lips gets word from an Eastern European woman he met online (yes, really) that she has organised a full European tour for them and suddenly they see one final opportunity to give Anvil the success it deserves.

Anvil is an inspirational story of blind commitment and the bond between friends. Lips and Robb have complimentary but very different characters. Lips is the typically mercurial lead guitarist. Prone to violent outbursts and equally sudden, heartfelt apologies he is the heart of the band but also its biggest liability. Robb is his calm and Zen-like foil (with a penchant for scatological art) and their exchanges are never less than entertaining but are also surprisingly emotional. Lips' melodramatic, snivelling, lip quivering apologies are some of the highlights of the film, with Robb's increasingly uncomfortable reactions a joy to watch. If they ever decide to give up on Anvil (unlikely) they would make a great comedic duo. Indeed it is the humour of the movie which makes it most memorable, with a barrage of major and minor disasters on the European tour reducing the audience to speechless, breathless, hernia-inducing laughter.

Anvil's humour is tempered by a huge amount of respect, channelled through Gervasi's coverage of the band. He toured with them as a roadie in the 80s and his love for the guys and what they do can be seen in every frame. Even when their situation is being ridiculed it is never at the expense of the band and their determination shines through as their defining attribute. Gervasi's work behind the camera is extraordinary. Having such great, trusting subjects is certainly half the battle and the sheer cavalcade of bad luck which they attract is a bonus but Gervasi shows remarkable restraint in every aspect of the film-making, particularly the editing. The difference between a moment that is funny and one that transcends mere humour to become uncomfortable and even emotional is all in the editing and Gervasi knows exactly when to cut to make the movie most affecting.

There is a moment in Anvil! when the band arrives at an important gig already expecting it to be almost empty. Lips' voice-over combines his almost trademarked acceptance with the tiniest glimmer of hope – a hope which has never been totally extinguished in 30 years. As they walk through the tunnel to the stage there is a genuine surge of adrenaline and a moment of real emotion. As a viewer you desperately want things to work out for Anvil, just this once, and you will it to happen. That level of connection is rare in dramatic films and practically unheard of in documentaries but Anvil creates and holds that tension in a perfect cinematic moment.

Anvil transcends the sometimes niche position of the documentary to deliver a truly extraordinary piece of cinema. It combines the lasting afterglow of a great concert with that of seeing a fantastic movie in a single package which is touching, funny and hugely entertaining. Even if you abhor heavy metal, are generally ambivalent about documentaries and think you couldn't care less about this bands bizarre longevity – you simply have to experience Anvil!

What a great documentary. By turns hilarious, heartbreaking, warm, touching, head- scratching, and full of more edge of your seat suspense than any 10 Hollywood thrillers. It's been called the "real life Spinal Tap," and these metalheads surely do walk the fine line between genius and stupid, but it's got so much more heart and humanity than that. It reminded me more of "American Movie," another great documentary about the unstoppable creative urge and the do-it-yourself-or-die-trying spirit. Lips and Robbo, the two fiftysomething never-say-never-again rockers at the heart of the film, are such fascinating, lovable characters, half heroes, half putzes, partly delusional, yet partly triumphant too. They're good at what they do, they know it and love it and can't stop doing it, even though the music industry passed them over a long, long time ago. They caught all the bad breaks they possibly could, but they didn't let that stop them. As the movie follows them on an agonizing (and yet hilarious) European tour, their attempts to get anyone in the record industry interested in their 13th LP, and an out-of-nowhere gig in Japan, you root for them and fret for them more than any characters in any recent film. That's because, of course, this isn't a film about rock n roll, or about these two guys even -- it really is one of those films that's about all of us, our fears and dreams, our success and failures, our genius moments and our putzy ones. No kidding, not just one of the best docs I've seen in recent years, but one of the mot touching and affecting movies, period.

I did not expect to enjoy this film as much as I did. 'Anvil' are an ageing Canadian metal band who had 5 minutes of fame before falling short of the big-time. Now they are family men, living humble lives but never forgetting their ultimate dream and passion, so here we follow their last endeavour to make a worldwide success of their band. They are genuinely talented musicians and performers, as testified by the likes of Guns 'n' Roses, Metallica and Anthrax who were influenced by them. However, you don't have to be a fan of metal music to enjoy this heart-warming rockumentary, as you become completely endeared to the central characters – the emotional and sentimental Lips and his best friend and band-mate since they were 14 years old, Robb, the calmer and more enigmatic of the two. The initial impression is that the film could be a spoof, but whilst it is as comic as Spinal Tap, it is in fact a story of the real emotions of real people; making it a thoroughly enjoyable watch.