David Chase took the old reliable Mafia genre and morphed it into something nobody had ever seen before, shying away from noir stylings and physical
and dramatic genre clichés and embracing a new wave attitude where the crime bosses were the folks down the street. They were folks with their own
problems, inner conflicts, and complicated family dealings, not just in their "extended" mob family but within their own flesh and blood. It played with
richly developed characters in a beautifully crafted world, the two merging to form the perfect canvas for one of the best thing ever to grace either the
big or small screen. His The Sopranos redefined a genre and forever helped shape the future of
television drama. Unfortunately, Chase doesn't find the same success with Not Fade Away, his first foray into writing and directing for the big
screen. The film tells a dramatically hollow coming-of-age tale in Vietnam-era New Jersey. It works around an endless parade of genre cliché -- dreams
of
making it big, young love, group strife, family quarrels -- and rewards viewers not with old pieces freshly reshaped à la The Sopranos but just
rearranged with different faces filling in the same tired lines. It's technically sound, but Not Fade Away lacks the charisma and captivating
cadence of Chase's best and historically significant work.
One day, this could -- will -- be me.
Douglas (John Magaro) has grown up in a picturesque Americana post-war New Jersey suburb with his old-fashioned father (James Gandolfini) who
senses and laments
the coming shift in culture. When Douglas returns home from college a changed man -- long hair and spiky-heeled "Cubans" on his feet -- the
two find themselves at odds, the old promising a clash with the new ("you look like you just got off the boat!" and "you and me, we're gonna tangle,
my friend!" the father's favorite sayings in the house) in a
futile effort to reshape a changing generation back into the old's own image.
Douglas has found his life aspiration in music. The Rolling Stones and The Beatles are his inspirations, and he and band-mates Eugene (Jack
Huston) and Wells (Will Brill) do their best to make themselves into the next-big-thing on the music scene. For Douglas, that means quitting school
to focus on his music. He's also fixated on Grace (Bella Heathcote), local beauty extraordinaire who may not be the sort to settle for a one-man
romance band.
Not Fade Away tackles all of the usual nation-in-turmoil, a generation in change, and era-specific challenges. There's the influence of a
world and a peoples in flux,
complicated by the budding intergenerational strife of the old, established way of doing things against the rebellion spurred by adolescence,
hormones,
a rising anti-war movement, and, of course, Rock 'N' Roll. It's manifested in appearances, attitudes, clashing sentiments, the literal and figurative
"beat
to a different drum." These are tired but worthwhile components, and as worn as they may seem they were all the dominant defining forces of the
era.
However, Not Fade Away fails to do much of anything with them that audiences haven't seen -- and in the better movies experienced --
before. Such story lines remain ripe for heightened dramatic effect, but they all seem so routine here, present because the era demands they be
present, not because they
add anything of significance to the picture beyond the generalized drama that ultimately fails to elicit anything more than a casual response. Not
Fade Away is a film stuck in a routine, a picture defined by its actions and settings rather than
its ideas and characters. It does very well in capturing an authentic era look and feel, but it's also terribly superficial with no real added value
beyond the basics.
That's the exact opposite of cinema's dominant era-music film, Almost Famous. That landmark picture is built around nuanced
characters and actions set in Not Fade Away's time period and against many of the same dramatic structures, but Cameron Crowe's
picture's
authenticity comes from a cooly built heart and deeply solidified soul that are both absent in David Chase's film, a firmly beating heart and a soul
made of the sort of stuff that comes from
understanding the power of music, the togetherness and antagonism both it can create, the very real and tangible life lessons that can come from
absorbing every note, analyzing each lyric, and allowing it all to deeply penetrate beyond the surface and truly shape one's inward persona. It's a
stark
contrast in pictures, one a real story of self-discovery amidst turmoil, the other the same but failing to escape that sense of convention under the
surface, truly lacking that necessary inward self-study that's the real benefit of love of music. Still, Not Fade Away does the nuts-and-bolts
superficialities well enough. The performances are lacking subtlety because the script similarly lacks that quality, but the cast does manage to
find the basic purpose and run with it, even if it's through a minefield of cliché. James Gandolfini is excellent as an imposing rock set firmly against
the long hair and high heels of an era he doesn't accept nor understand -- or chooses not to understand -- while John Magaro plays off of the
veteran actor with both an outward rebellion and a
deeper inward one, at least as deep as the script allows him to explore.
Not Fade Away features a stellar high definition presentation. Paramount's latest offering shows the studio at its best. The opening
black-and-white footage gives way to color soon enough, and with that a truly splendid, full, crisply defined viewing experience. Though there's a slight
natural medium-influenced smoothness to the image, there's also an incredible sharpness and vividness to it. Details are positively striking,
reinforced by impeccable clarity and definition all around the frame, foreground and background alike. The period set pieces and clothes stand out
beautifully, whether in bright, sun-drenched exteriors or low light or nighttime conditions. Facial and clothing details are extraordinarily revelatory,
showing the finest textures and lines in close-up shots. The color palette is superb, too. Every shade is captured and presented flawlessly, reinforced by
perfect skin tones and wonderfully deep black levels. Of course, there is no unwanted digital tinkering or other flaw of which to speak. This is an
excellent presentation from Paramount.
A music-oriented film needs a top-tier losses soundtrack, and Not Fade Away earns just that. Paramount's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
presentation is excellent, featuring balanced, rich sound to the opening Rock beats and through the entirety of the film, be the notes as heard in the film
from a prerecorded record album or performed "live" by the band. Instrument detailing is particularly good in those "live" sessions; the band sounds
fantastic no matter its experience level or the venue in which it plays as the sound relates to pure audio playback quality. The track features little
beyond music and dialogue, however. There is some fine intermittent ambient sound effects and gentle surround immersion, notably in the rumbly train
to open the film in black-and-white, but not a steady stream of extracurricular elements to fill in the gaps. Fortunately, the film rarely calls for such
things, given most of the locations are localized or closed-off with little natural opportunity for extended environmental elements, anyway. Dialogue
comes through cleanly from the center and is never lost under music. All around, this is an excellent soundtrack from Paramount.
Not Fade Away contains three supplements, one of which is a three-part making-of.
The Basement Tapes (HD): A three-piece making-of feature. Track 1: The Boys in the Band (13:32) features cast and crew
discussing the film's origins, David Chase's love of music, characters and cast, and training the actors in the art of music. Track 2: Living in the
Sixties (12:26) explores the film's timetable and the influence of the period and its music on the film. It also takes a look at selecting the music for
the film. Finally, Track 3: Hard Art (10:04) offers a more detailed look at the technical process of the shoot while also looking further at the
story.
Building the Band (HD, 3:06): A short but focused look at casting the band members.
Deleted Scenes (HD, 5:33): Naming the Band, Thanksgiving, Eviction, and You and Me Gonna Tangle.
The fixation with The Twilight Zone that creeps in from time to time in Not Fade
Away may be one of the most errant in film history. Rather than the picture winding up somehow out of the ordinary, it instead moves through
with nary a thread out of place. Everything in the movie is as it seems, from the basic plot arc to the shell of the dramatic character elements that
never move on beyond the expected teen angst routine. The picture lacks the soul of the best musically inspired films but it does offer sound technical
qualities while it traverses its well-beaten path with nary a single footfall astray. Paramount's Blu-ray release of Not Fade Away is a little thin on
extras but it does offer gorgeous picture and excellent sound. Worth a rental.
For the week of April 30th, Anchor Bay Home Entertainment is bringing Silver Linings Playbook to Blu-ray. This comedy-drama found success with its portrait of two unstable outcasts who realize that they might be soul mates; director David O. Russell's direction ...
Blu-ray.com and Paramount Home Entertainment are offering three members an opportunity to win a Blu-ray copy of writer/director David Chase's Not Fade Away (2012) and a double vinyl LP soundtrack signed by the filmmaker. The '60s period drama stars John Magaro, ...
Paramount Home Media Distribution has officially announced and detailed its upcoming Blu-ray release of David Chase's drama Not Fade Away (2012), starring John Magaro, Jack Huston, and Will Brill. The release will be available for purchase online and in stores ...
