Roadie Blu-ray offers decent video and solid audio in this enjoyable Blu-ray release
For over 20 years, Jimmy Testagross has lived his childhood dream: being a roadie for his childhood heroes, Blue Oyster Cult. But the band's Arena-Rock glory days are a distant memory. County fairs and club gigs pay the bills. And Jimmy has become a casualty of these leaner times. With no place to go, no job prospects, and no real skills outside of being a roadie, Jimmy needs to regroup. So he returns to his childhood home in Queens, Ny. There, he revisits old relationships: his ailing, widower mom, a high school crush, a former nemesis and, most importantly, his relationship with himself. Jimmy, the middle-aged man-child, has never grown up. He still carries the resentments and frustrations of his youth, and has allowed them to fester and define who and what he is.
Like a more depressing take on the Jason Reitman/Diablo Cody collaboration Young Adult, Roadie wrestles with a theme that's become
increasingly common in the past few recession-ridden years--the quasi-grownup who returns dejectedly to his hometown with his proverbial tail
between his legs. Here, the in-name-only adult is Jimmy Testagross--played by a scruffy Ron Eldard--a forty-something professional roadie who's been
hauling gear for his longtime musical idols, Blue Oyster Cult, for twenty-odd years. It's the only job he's ever had. When the film opens, Jimmy's been
fired by the band before a big tour and abandoned in "the middle of butt-munch Michigan," where he has a minor meltdown in front of a family
restaurant, freaking out the patrons. He kicks the wall and flails his arms and drops a salvo of F-bombs; it's the tantrum of an overgrown adolescent,
which is exactly what he is. He doesn't know how to do laundry, operating a coffee maker is an insurmountable challenge, and he blames his lack of
even rudimentary adulthood skills on "the road, man." As one character puts it, he's been "developmentally stunted by rock 'n' roll."
But now it's time to face reality. Out of a job, Jimmy heads back to his old neighborhood in Queens and drops in on his elderly mother (Lois Smith),
whom he hasn't seen in years. She's elated, of course, but it doesn't take her long to get into concerned-parent nagging mode, dropping hints that she
always thought he would've made a fine teacher, and that maybe he should get his life together. To save face and try to make his mom proud of him,
Jimmy hides the fact that he's just been fired. More so, he trumps up his own importance, claiming he's now the manager of the band, that he's
written a few songs that will appear on their forthcoming album, and that he's leaving with "the Cult" next week for a month-long tour of South
America.
He keeps up the lie when he drops into the local watering hole and runs into his high school nemesis, Randy Stevens (Bobby Cannavale), a brash
businessman and cokehead who--and here's where it gets interesting--is married to Jimmy's old flame, Nikki (Jill Hennessy). And it's pretty clear there
are still some smoldering coals of passion in Jimmy's heart for her, making the afternoon awkward as they reconnect, reminiscing about the good old
days. (Mom is aghast that Jimmy's been home for a few hours and he's already got a girl in his bedroom.) The two have a lot in common; she's a
never-made-it singer/songwriter who plays for crowds of 30 or 40 at the same rinky-dink bar every weekend, and he's a failed roadie. The dream has
died.
And that's basically what Roadie is all about--the soul-crushing middle-age awareness that your life has flashed by and that all those great
things you always thought you'd do just aren't ever going to get done. On the one hand, Jimmy has spent the last couple decades trotting around the
globe with his favorite band. On the other, he's suddenly blindsided by the fact that he's "just a schlepper, carrying around what isn't his." Yes, this is
inherently depressing, but the film handles it with the grace of somber honesty. Although this is a hard subject--and, let's just say it, a movie premise
that just isn't very commercially promising--director Michael Cuesta (L.I.E.) makes the most of it, with a clear-eyed vision of disappointment
and regret that's bracing. Life ain't easy, and Cuesta--who wrote the script with his brother, Gerald--doesn't softball us any easy answers. He just
observes. The film takes place entirely over 24 hours and only a handful of locations, making it a sort of chamber drama pressure cooker. The tension is
at its highest when Jimmy, Nikki, and Randy get a room together at a trashy motel to party before Nikki's show. Let's just say that the combination of
cocaine, Wild Turkey, Grey Goose, and sexual tension makes for an amped-up, pent-up evening. And eventually, of course, it explodes. It's always
simultaneously sad and terrifying to see adults revert to the teenaged selves.
This isn't a film where much happens. It's more of a low-key character study, not just of Jimmy, but of all its characters. With the help of all-
around solid acting, each feels dimensional, fleshed-out, authentic. Lois Smith, who's been in over a hundred films and TV series--you might recognize
her as Grandma Stackhouse, from True Blood--is perfectly cast as an old woman who's losing her memory but none of her sass. Win
Win's Bobby Cannavale makes for a truly lamentable a-hole, someone you hate and pity in equal measure, and Crossing Jordan's Jill
Hennessy--with heavy eyeliner and black boots--has a kind of vulnerable toughness that sells the part. And then there's Ron Eldard--seen last in
Super 8--who's simply 100% in this role. The ridiculous sideburns and dated hair. The slouchy posture. The sagging paunch and tired
eyes. The thermal underwear under the band t-shirt. He's the very picture of a career roadie. But it's not just his appearance. He practically gives off
desperation--you can read his character's mental state in every awkward glance and fumbling movement. What does the rest of Jimmy's life hold?
The Roadie doesn't tell us--and I'm glad for it--but the film does end on a quietly redemptive note.
I couldn't dig up any definitive info on whether The Roadie was shot digitally or on film, but the Blu-ray's 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer looks to
me like it was sourced from a 35mm print--it's got a layer of grain that's too warm and filmic-looking to be digital source noise. That said, there's
something digital-ish about this picture. It's not quite apparent from a distance--unless you've got a massive screen--but up close the image
seems to suffer from a bit too much compression. Otherwise, however, this is a decently satisfying high definition presentation. Easy on the eyes, if
never exactly stunning. Although there are quite a few shots that looks noticeably soft, most of the film has a good sense of clarity, with resolved
textures in closeups. Color is fairly strong too, with consistent skin tones, deep-enough blacks, and a light grading that gives a warm cast to most of the
highlights. A serviceable, watchable image.
Despite Jimmy's rock 'n' roll background, you're right not to expect an aggressive, room-rattling mix from this low-key mid-life-crisis drama. Sure, there
are a few rock/metal tunes thrown into the mix, and they sound great--dynamic and expressive as the original recordings--but they almost never get to
blast at full volume. This is a relatively quiet DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track, one that focuses more on clearly understood dialogue than fat-
bottomed guitar riffs. The rear channels don't get a whole lot of action, but they are used to add some depth to the music, along with putting out some
light ambience from time to time. Like the picture quality, the audio gets the job done, and that's about all there is to say here. For those that need or
want them, the disc comes with optional English SDH and Spanish subtitles.
Photo Gallery (1080p): A user-directed gallery with 56 images.
HDNet: A Look at Roadie (1080p, 4:33): HDNet's Robert Wilonski gives an overview of the film and calls it "one of the most
honest, most truest, and most thoughtful films I've seen in a very long time."
Also from Magnolia Home Entertainment (1080p, 9:16)
If there's one thing sadder than an aging rockstar it's an aging roadie, especially one who's suddenly forced to confront his failures and regrets. And
that's The Roadie in a nutshell. If it sounds depressing, it is, but it's also a powerfully honest look at middle-age and its accompanying crises. I
doubt this is the kind of film you'd want to watch more than once, so I'm not going to recommend a purchase on this one, but if you enjoy quiet
character studies, The Roadie is probably worth a rental.
Next month, Magnolia Home Entertainment will bring Roadie to Blu-ray. Ron Eldard (Black Hawk Down), Jill Hennessy (Lymelife), and Bobby Cannavale (Win Win) star in director Michael Cuesta's drama about an aging Blue Oyster Cult roadie forced to confront reality ...
