Band Aid

Anna (Zoe Lister-Jones) and Ben (Adam Pally) are a couple fighting about everything. They are struggling. She suggests turning their fights into songs. They start a garage band with their sex-addict neighbor Dave (Fred Armisen).

Anna and Ben have some fun back and forth with Hitler jokes. I don't particularly like anybody else nor do I truly hate any of them. It's a lot of quirky hipster Hollywood and not necessarily that funny. It's especially true for Fred Armisen. He's trying too hard for my taste. I also don't like the songs. I struggle with that whole side of the movie.

I like Zoe and Adam. The movie hints quite forcefully early on about a great lost. It's revealed later on but an earlier reveal would have been better. It's not that shocking and it hung over the movie for the first half. Once revealed, the relationship has some terrific emotional scenes. There is something in this pairing but the surrounding elements don't always work.

Band Aid is a quirky indie picture written and directed by Zoe Lister-Jones that depicts the lives of Anna and Ben, a young married couple struggling not just with the dishes, but unemployment, un-fulfilment, miscarriage and of course the frailties of a monotonous marriage.

Together, both Lister-Jones and Adam Pally are brilliant in depicting a realistic and grounded relationship that balances comedy and drama, as the two uniquely deal with their marital problems by turning each and every fight into a song performed alongside drummer and neighbouring creep Dave, played by Fred Armisen.

The whimsical and clever lyrics of each song aside, the film is genuinely fantastic, both in direction and writing, with Lister-Jones churning out a brilliant performance that has me, and many others wishing she would write and direct more

This movie was comedy versus drama mediated perfectly with music. A wonderful film.

It is a nice drama. I did not know the actress was the director herself, and her acting was so good and real, I would follow her acting in other films too. The chemistry between two central characters was so genuine and realistic, it was really refreshing. The setup is about a struggling couple who are facing economic and emotional problems, and then they try to vent their fight into songs by making a band. But if you expect something like "August Rush" or "Once" or "Music and lyrics", you might be disappointed. It is actually a family drama, with may be no memorable songs.

I believe all those divorces everywhere in the society, such movie sends a very good message. We need to deal with our problems with a try to understand each other more. I had few laughs during the movie, and some dialogues were pretentious, but still, it is a refreshing one. Zoe Lister-Jones should try to write more. And I wish more people watch this drama. Giving rating as 8, as this kind movie cannot get ratings like 10 out of 10, but hope IMDb would retain a 7+ rating for this movie, which it deserves without any doubt.

"Band Aid" (2017 release; 93 min.) brings the story of Anna and Ben. As the movie opens, Anna and Ben, a married couple, are arguing over the dishes that are left sitting in the kitchen sink. "You are quite the dish Nazi", Ben screams to Anna, who does not take it well. "I come from a long line of Holocaust survivors!", she retorts. When they go to Anna's best friend's party celebrating her one year old's birthday, Anna and Ben pick up the kids' instruments, singing an impromptu song, to their delight, "What if we turned our fights into songs?", Anna wonders. At this point we are 10 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: first and foremost, this movie is a labor of love for Zoe Lister-Jones, who not only stars (as Anna), but wrote, produced and directed as well. She is omni-present, and that is a good thing. Here she brings a look at married life and how to combat when a marriage seems stuck, if not worse. (It's only much later in the movie why the marriage seems stuck in the first place.) Lister-Jones, who has released music before, also co-wrote the songs that are featured in the movie. At first, the movie feels like "can music save this marriage" type movie, but that is less and less the case as we get deeper into the movie. And is this the first movie where the main character (Anna) makes a living as an Uber driver? Besides Lister-Jones, there are several other wonderful acting performances, including Adam Pally as Ben, and Fred Armisen as their neighbor (and eventual band mate and drummer). Keep an eye out for a blink-it-and-you'll-miss-it cameo appearance of director Deryl Wein (Zoe's real-life husband). Last but not least, I have no idea what the movie's title "Band Aid" means. Is it a reference to the 1980s all-star charity group that recorded "Do They Know It's Christmas"? Your guess is as good as mine. Bottom line: "Band Aid" is a heart-felt indie romance-drama with/by/from a stellar Zoe Lister-Jones.

"Band Aid" premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival. It finally opened at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati this weekend and I couldn't wait to see it. The Friday evening screening where I saw this at was attended dismally (3 people, including myself), much to my surprise and disappointment. Maybe this is the type of movie that will find a second life once it's available on Amazon Instant Video and eventually on DVD/Blu-ray. "Band Aid" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!