“thirty pounds of junk food and a retail job away from suicide"
Movie Review: Suck
by Robert Bell Published: September 22, 2009 More articles by this author Rating:
Country: Canada
Release Date: September 11, 2009
Distributor: no distributor
Director:
· Rob Stefaniuk
Cast:
· Rob Stefaniuk
· Jessica Paré
· Malcolm McDowell
· Dimitri Coats
Related Sites:
· TIFF Website
· Official Site
· IMDb: Suck
Grade: B-
Probably more noteworthy for its star-studded, musical supporting cast including Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper, Henry Rollins and Moby, "Suck" does not ironically suck, but it is not anything particularly memorable either. There are some catchy songs, clever musical references and a reasonable amount of blood, making its brief running time engaging, despite a fairly flimsy overall story with inconsistent, awkwardly discordant and often frustrating, characters.
At the centre of things is Joey (played by writer/director Rob Stefaniuk-pause for eye rolling), an aging destitute musician, described aptly by Alice Cooper’s bartender character as “thirty pounds of junk food and a retail job away from suicide”. His band ‘The Winners’, close to calling it quits after their manager (Dave Foley) leaves them, finds unlikely success when bassist Jennifer (Jessica Pare) shows up looking hotter than ever, with strangely pale skin.
People are attracted to her, and in turn the band, by contiguity, which works wonders, until other members of the band develop a similar aversion to light and thirst for human blood.
A tendency to construct shots out of famous album covers keeps our pop culture lexicon a buzzing, while a death scene involving a straw and a cameo by Moby as a meat-obsessed, leather-wearing lead singer named “Beef”, keep camp value and irony at a high.
Despite these fun “in-house” jokes and the obvious parallel of compromised musician as creature of the night, Suck doesn’t feel like an entire film, delivering only a decent irreverent message, in between its repetitive whining and awkward subplot involving a vampire slayer (Malcolm McDowell).
Adding to these issues is a murky mythology within, and an unfortunate lack of charisma from the lead actor/director, who probably should have cast someone other than himself. Consistent, budget conscious, art direction and a distinct visual sensibility help a bit, only to have lame edits and unnecessary stylization detract. Essentially, what we have here is a film with an abundance of misguided and undeveloped potential that happens to have a handful of enjoyable moments.
by Robert Bell Published: September 22, 2009 More articles by this author Rating:
Country: Canada
Release Date: September 11, 2009
Distributor: no distributor
Director:
· Rob Stefaniuk
Cast:
· Rob Stefaniuk
· Jessica Paré
· Malcolm McDowell
· Dimitri Coats
Related Sites:
· TIFF Website
· Official Site
· IMDb: Suck
Grade: B-
Probably more noteworthy for its star-studded, musical supporting cast including Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper, Henry Rollins and Moby, "Suck" does not ironically suck, but it is not anything particularly memorable either. There are some catchy songs, clever musical references and a reasonable amount of blood, making its brief running time engaging, despite a fairly flimsy overall story with inconsistent, awkwardly discordant and often frustrating, characters.
At the centre of things is Joey (played by writer/director Rob Stefaniuk-pause for eye rolling), an aging destitute musician, described aptly by Alice Cooper’s bartender character as “thirty pounds of junk food and a retail job away from suicide”. His band ‘The Winners’, close to calling it quits after their manager (Dave Foley) leaves them, finds unlikely success when bassist Jennifer (Jessica Pare) shows up looking hotter than ever, with strangely pale skin.
People are attracted to her, and in turn the band, by contiguity, which works wonders, until other members of the band develop a similar aversion to light and thirst for human blood.
A tendency to construct shots out of famous album covers keeps our pop culture lexicon a buzzing, while a death scene involving a straw and a cameo by Moby as a meat-obsessed, leather-wearing lead singer named “Beef”, keep camp value and irony at a high.
Despite these fun “in-house” jokes and the obvious parallel of compromised musician as creature of the night, Suck doesn’t feel like an entire film, delivering only a decent irreverent message, in between its repetitive whining and awkward subplot involving a vampire slayer (Malcolm McDowell).
Adding to these issues is a murky mythology within, and an unfortunate lack of charisma from the lead actor/director, who probably should have cast someone other than himself. Consistent, budget conscious, art direction and a distinct visual sensibility help a bit, only to have lame edits and unnecessary stylization detract. Essentially, what we have here is a film with an abundance of misguided and undeveloped potential that happens to have a handful of enjoyable moments.