CBGB

Randall Miller – 2013 – USA

If the Oscars had any validity, they’d give one to Alan Rickman for his amazing and understated performance in a very unlikely bit of casting as Hilly Kristal, the proprietor of CBGB’s; the Bowery bar in New York that first showcased legendary bands like the Ramones, Talking Heads, Patti Smith, Blondie, Television, and many more.  The film itself is pretty routine and unexceptional; not unlike other recent let’s-dress-up-70s movies – such as The Runaways (2010) and Lovelace (2013) – where the main interest is trying to guess which famous people various actors are supposed to be portraying.  I won’t deny it’s fun to see lookalikes of all the above-named artists playing all that great music, but it’s entertaining like a cover-band is; just okay, but not really satisfying.  The gaping hole in the film’s credibility, though, is the presentation of the Ramones; who – alone among the artists – apparently refused to allow their music to be used in the film.  This conspicuous failing is so large that it literally sucks the air out of the whole film.  I can’t imagine why the producers didn’t opt to simply omit the Ramones entirely rather than have them playing songs that don’t sound anything like the group at all.  In any case, the only major plus in the film is Rickman’s resolutely deadpan performance as Kristal.  The fact that the Shakespearean Brit becomes a slovenly, grumbling New Yorker so convincingly is only part of what is so impressive.  Remarkably, despite being the central character, Kristal has almost no range of emotion, no highs and lows, and virtually no arc; he is stubborn and weary throughout, whether he’s smacking the cockroaches off his desk or dumping all his money into managing the punk group the Dead Boys.