Summer of Netflix Day 13 - Frank

Alexa: Frank is one of the rare movies that I felt the need to mull over for a day or so before forming a concrete opinion about it because it wasn’t at all what I anticipated – and I mean that as a compliment. Going into it, I thought the film would follow a fairly standard trajectory for quirky indie coming of age stories, that perhaps our protagonist, Jon (Bill Weasley, er, Domhnall Gleeson), a passionate but mediocre aspiring musician, might finally find his sound through his exploits with offbeat band the Soronprfbs. The group is full of intriguing, damaged characters, led by the charmingly eccentric Frank and the papier-mâché head he never removes. The movie has some good laughs and plenty of heart, but it also takes some surprising turns, offering an insightful commentary on fame, mental illness and social media’s capacity to propel viral entertainment, even at other people’s expense. The highlight of Frank has to be Frank himself – Michael Fassbender is an unexpected and inspired choice for the titular role, and he delivers one of the best and most memorable performances of his career.

Chris: I’d like to give Michael Fassbender all the credit in the world for making me emotionally connect with a guy that wears a giant plastic head 95% of the movie. On the surface, the band is a bunch of weird music hipsters that are WAY too precious about their experimental music. And let the record show that I hate experimental music so much, experimental films too, but I actually found bits of their music enjoyable at moments. It’s interesting how the members of the band rely on Frank as their inspiration, emotional leader and their overall reference of stability only to see just how fragile and damaged he is towards the end, especially when you see him without the giant head. And it’s not that they made him look grotesque without the head, aside from some scars on his head, it was simply Michael Fassbender. But the striking factor about it was just how much emotional scarring was evident without the giant head. And yes, the song at the end, “I Love You All,” is stuck in my head, so thanks for that.

Joel: So this is a weird movie. It’s the kind of movie where if it’s your kind of weird, you’re probably going to enjoy it and if it’s not, you probably wont. But after seeing it and mulling it over, I still can’t really say if it’s my type of weird or not. The characters are all very interesting and compelling to say the least. The main group is a collection of broken people who all seem to be looking to the others (Frank especially) to fix them, when nobody even really knows how to fix themselves. It’s a weird but interesting way to look at a collaborative creative process. If you’ve experienced something like that before, being passionate about something creative, but having to rely on the skill and dedication of others for it to become a reality, there are things in the movie that you will be able to relate to. Even the one who wears a giant, fake head the entire time.

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