I think I need to watch it again - still undecided.

Rating: 6/10 (20 October 2014)

Any film where one member of the cast wears a mask for all but one scene is going to be a little unusual unless its Star Wars.
Frank tells the story of Jon, I want to be music writer who constantly writes lyrics in his head to any given situation. Leading a fairly direction-less life otherwise he accidentally witnesses the attempted suicide of the keyboard player of a travelling band led by papermache head wearing lead singer, Frank, apparently played by Michael Fassbender, (though I cannot help but wonder if a body doubled did all the scenes for him until the end and he did ADR the rest.)
Frank never takes off his mask, not even in the shower, the rest of the band take to Jon with varying mixed degree's. He thinks their going to Ireland to do a gig for the weekend, the band has plans to stay in the woods and record music until the find the perfect sound which as it turns out is a very long time. Jon clashes with some of the band, finds understanding in others and has strange and revealing conversations with Frank leading him to wonder if he will ever shed his mask. It is a film about the masks we all can wear at times and does ask something interesting questions about judging people by their actions rather than their looks. Eventually this all spirals to a collision that for some will have far reaching consequences.
Frank is a really hard film to label, let alone describe. It's certainly not something you can easily dismiss, even if its not to your taste. There's something very watchable about Domhall Gleeson as the lead Jon, a young man out of his depth, he's likable and too me made the film bearable as most of the time I couldn't really hear Frank's muffled words and the other band members were annoying at best and arbitrary to the story for the most part. the film is Jon's Journey and how he grows around people who think their more talented than perhaps they really are. As a story about the torture and eccentricity being genius this is a film that works well except for the fact that the band don't seem that talented to begin with. Just as things really get bogged down the action shifts to America and there is a little change of tone. As a dark comedy the film is not without its laughs and somber moments following in quick succession but overall its a hard film to recommend to people as it feels akin to Marmite, you're probably either love it or hate it. I think I will probably need to watch it again to decide.
When Fassbender is definitively on screen his performance is moving and believable as always and the film is beautifully shot by James Mather so there is much to admire in the film along with the fact that it is at least original.
I have read since the character of Frank has been partially inspired by an actual singer, but to me that's not really relevant as this is clearly a fictional story. Those with experience of the extreme persona's of the music world will probably relate more to the characters and their dilemmas than those that do not, but this isn't a film about the music industry, that is simply the backdrop for a narrative that is a statement about people and the way we see and interact with each other. On this level the film offers some interesting insights. While I am not sure if that has enough momentum to charge a movie, its certainly a commendable effort.