Frank
Director: Leonard Abrahamson
Year Released: 2014
Rating: 0.5
A struggling musician (Domhnall Gleeson, son of accomplished character actor Brendan) happens upon a group of experimental musicians - led by Frank (Michael Fassbender), who wears a papier-mâché mask and refuses to remove it - that just so happen to need a keyboardist because their regular one went insane. What follows is too self-consciously 'quirky' as the band hides out in the woods to tinker with melodies and live communally and they break up when they finally get to the South by Southwest Festival in Austin due to Frank's emotional instability combined with Gleeson's ambition. The focus on being eccentric is so strong it forgets to be a movie, and not even Fassbender, trapped in a mask, can bring much to it, though Maggie Gyllenhaal is one of your go-to people when you need a Bad Bitch to chain-smoke and look annoyed. It's a mellow Scott Pilgrim ... without the sense of fun.
