Not Fade Away

         

              Everyone loves to hear a success story. We enjoy reading those stories because they help our belief that anything is possible. The stories you don’t see often are the stories about the ones that don’t make it. When it comes to the music business there are more groups that do not make it than ones that do. “Not Fade Away” is about one of those groups that didn’t make it.

      Douglas (John Magaro) is a normal teenage growing up during the beginning years of Rock and Roll. It seems like every teenager in his suburban New Jersey neighborhood wants to start a band. Douglas gets his chance when a local band loses its drummer. They start off playing cover songs at house parties and practicing in the basement of one of the band members. After an accident involving a joint, Douglas gets his chance to sing lead, and show everyone one that the band is better with him as the front man. Douglas is a disappointment to his father Pat (James Gandolfini) who doesn’t understand his son’s long hair and the way he dresses. Douglas’s band meanwhile is becoming more popular in their home town; they have even written an original song. While performing, Douglas reconnects with Grace (Bella Heathcote), a girl he loved in High School. Together they become each other’s biggest supporters even through their up and downs. Douglas and his band have a chance to sign with a label, but an accident sidetracks them and makes Douglas question the path he is on.

    “Not Fade Away” was written and directed by David Chase. If his name sounds familiar it should be, because he is the creator of “The Sopranos”. When growing up Chase dreamed of being the star drummer in a rock band. He played for many years and lucky for us he didn’t make it and went on to create one of the better TV shows in the last twenty years. If Chase’s dream sounds a lot like the story of this very movie, I don’t think that is a coincidence. You can tell as you watch the film that the music and movies that pop up in the film were influences for Chase and had an effect on him. This film is a project of love for Chase, and you can feel that as you watch it. The problem with the film though, is it seems to have no sense of time in it. It takes place between 1963 and the early 70’s. With that said, it is hard to keep up with when it is, it almost feels like it jumps around a little too much. The best way I can describe “Not Fade Away” is, it’s one of those movies you don’t love, nor do you hate it. Instead it just kind of lingers in the area where you don’t know what to think about it. I could feel how important this film was to Chase, but after seeing it, you will wonder if he even should have tried to make his movie about “not making it.”

 Brian Taylor