Quirky, intelligent indie fare with cinema's coolest paper mache head

Rating: 7/10 (25 January 2015)

Frank follows a band led by an enigmatic and unique musical genius who wears a Paper Mache head the entire time. It's an unconventional and different type of a movie; a black comedy, a drama and musical biopic rolled into one. Many will not have seen Frank, especially not in the USA, and it's not hard to see why. I like mainstream cinema although it provokes many a rant from me, and I like more dramatic and art-house films too. This doesn't necessarily fall into either category. This is made for film critics. It's quirky, different and distant to the point of being obnoxious, and does not exist to provide entertainment to most cinema goers. Frank is a good film, but it's not a particularly enjoyable one. It's emotionally distant at times, can feel cold due to its dark humour and despite being a comedy the dark themes are not merged with humour with the same balance that the excellent and far better independent drama Calvary from the same year. It will keep many interested for a while, but unfortunately it declines into a bummer of a final act and makes the whole story seem pointless.
Frank is well directed, written and acted though. The direction has a different feel to it and a sense of art, while the script has plenty of sparks and can be funny at times. The performances from Domhnall Gleeson, Maggie Gyllenhaal and others are all strong, and Michael Fassbender emits plenty of depth, humour, humanity and emotion from inside the giant head. Frank is a dark comedy and this makes it less enjoyable, but it should be admired for trying to tackle difficult themes in a movie of its type. For anyone who's interested in music this is a good film to watch, and at times the film can be interesting. Overall, it's a well done indie flick which isn't very entertaining and has a feeling of emotional distance but at the same time its unusualness can be endearing in a funny sort of way. Other British films such as The Imitation Game and Locke are definitely better than Frank, but Frank is still a decent film and worth checking out if you're it's audience.
7/10