Honest and offbeat

Rating: 7/10 (14 January 2015)

Frank stars Domhall Gleeson as a young keyboard player who stumbles his way into an odd pop band led by the mysterious titular lead singer (Michael Fassbender) and comprised of surly, unlikeable, experimental, and talented musicians. It's certainly a different kind of movie, if only because Frank wears an oversized paper-mache costume head - at all times - but the strong cast propels what might have been an indifferent, familiar storyline.
Jon (Gleeson) has an office job by day and attempts to write songs for his keyboard at night. When he witnesses a band's keyboard player attempting to drown himself in the ocean, Jon is, uh, Jonny on the spot - hired immediately as an emergency replacement by the band's manager, Don (Scoot McNairy) for a gig that night. Bear in mind that poor Jon hasn't heard one note of the band's tunes but being able to play the keys using three chords is all he needs to do, and he acquits himself well. But it ain't over, is it? Don later calls Jon up and asks him if he wants to do it again, he agrees - only to discover that the band, instead of gigging, plans to hole up in a cabin in the woods and record an album.
In addition to the puzzling Frank, there's Nana (Carla Azar) on drums and Baraque (Francois Civil) on guitar. Neither seems to like Jon very much, for unknown reasons. But dwarfing them both in that arena is Clara (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who plays synthesizer (including a theremin) and is mercurial and openly antagonistic toward Jon. Perhaps because she views him as attempting to drive a wedge between her and Frank. Perhaps because she is opposed to Frank's notion of making music people will like (and pay for) and intuits that Jon will side with Frank.
No one really seems to know what makes Frank tick. He never takes the mask off. No one in the band has ever seen him without it. He takes his meals by way of a straw (seriously), and speakers and earpieces are built into the sides of his mask/head. He sleeps and showers with the thing on. Yes, it's strange, but no one aside from Jon seems to mind. That's because Frank appears to be a musical genius with a terrific voice and a penchant for writing soulful, evocative music.
Gyllenhaal in particular is really excellent as the nasty, spiteful Clara. It's surely not easy to make such a despicable character work, but Gyllenhaal is more than up to the task. And her chemistry with Gleeson and, to a lesser extent, Fassbender, is laser focused. Performances like this remind you just how exceptional an actress Gyllenhaal is. Maybe someday she'll get some true recognition.
Frank isn't your typical musical biopic, real or fictional, and that's one of its best assets. Given the low box office returns ($644,000 in the U.S.), I'd have to consider this one of the more under-appreciated films of 2014. It's funny, honest, and offbeat.