Anvil!

It is testament to the cultural hotbed that is Bracknell, that when I went along to the local Odeon last Tuesday evening to see the 'Director's cut' - a once-a-week screening of a film which is typically a limited release - absolutely no-one else was there. I say no-one, but there were chums of mine with me, and of course it was fun to act like we owned the cinema without having the inconvenience of annoying other people. However, I would have liked to see as least a small number of people turn out to see a film which has been billed as the real life 'Spinal Tap'. One of the greatest comedy films of all time - but in real life? Who is anyone to say no to that?

The film opens with some typically hazy footage of a rock festival in early 1980s Japan. The voice-over tells us we are watching a band that once stood shoulder-to-shoulder with acts like Bon Jovi and Anthrax. We see a vox pops of Lars Ulrich and Slash telling us how this band were an inspiration. We see an unrealistically-dressed bedraggled rocker desperately trying to play his guitar with a dildo. This band is Anvil.

My first reaction was to assume that this was a clever gag, that in fact Anvil were made up and we were about to witness a kind of post-post-modern Spinal Tap spoof in which the audience were being utterly lied to with a straight face. This fear wasn't allayed in the slightest when the lead singer of the band took us through Anvil's back-catalogue of albums. As the lurid trashy metal designs flew past the screen it was so reminiscent of the same scene in 'A Mighty Wind' that I became convinced I was witnessing a spoof. Then we are introduced to Steve 'Lips' Kudlow, the lead singer and driving force of Anvil - a man who now works in a groceries delivery firm in a cold outpost in Canada and dreams of things that never were. It was only then I realised that no one this sad and deluded could possibly have been created for screen, that in fact him and his drummer - his best friend from childhood Robb Reiner - were indeed the real thing, a band that never made it.

What follows is a surprisingly touching story about a couple of old guys who have seen their lives drift by. After entertaining dreams of becoming rock stars, the simply never made it and have been thrown on the scrap heap of life - where so many ordinary people end up. The band try to re-invigorate their career with a rather sad 'tour' around Europe - in which they play to pubs containing 'crowds' numbering in double figures. At first it is rather funny to see a bunch of sad old men trying to re-create their youthful days; but there's a point in the film when you realise that these people aren't caricatures – they could be anyone we all know in real life, after that the story becomes rather poignant. You can see through the face paint and the leathers and the devil horns and the other trappings of metal paraphernalia, you end up seeing a couple of vulnerable old men who only want to do what they enjoy the most - play music.

The film winds up with the band's attempt to record a new album in the UK, and finally being invited out to Japan to play the morning slot in a day-long metal festival. The film ends on a wonderfully uplifting note as Kudlow and Reiner realise that despite all the adversity of their careers, their failures and aging years, there is always hope for people who have a dream and want to work hard.

That probably sounds really hokey, but I left the cinema with a smile on my face and a renewed faith that getting old doesn't mean that all your best times are behind you. Go and see this film! Now!