Official Synopsis
Based on Mike Peters’, of the Alarm, true rock-and-roll hoax of 2004, this wry film follows a washed-up rocker who hoodwinks top record labels, radio DJs and the entire rock music world by releasing his new pop punk single under a fictitious teenage band’s name
Vinyl starts off well enough with a solid premise. We’re introduced to has-been rocker Johnny Jones (Phil Daniels), who has yet to give up his rock and roller past, which has given up on him. We’re shown every aspect of this man, who pays his rent through drugs, lives in a small trailer in the middle of a farm, and has a case dedicated to all is old band’s memorabilia, in the first five minutes of the film. Jones is firmly stuck in neutral and stalled in his past.
Then a funeral of a former rocker happens, and the band Jones used to know and love comes together for a one night special to mend wounds. Drunk and giving into old ghosts, the band records a hit single.
The problem? They have no idea what to do with it.
Jones tries to go to his old record label, but they represent a different demographic. After several avenues, Jones finally comes up with a plan — they would hire a younger, pseudo-band to mimic the old band’s new single hit. Sounds like a great plan, right? Well, it starts off great, as the record label that shunned them decides that they will sign the younger band. Then Jones and group have to go find the younger band.
This is the end of act one.
Honestly speaking, the movie is pretty solid up to this point. While I would have given the characters a bit more time to develop, especially the old band members that have a beef with each other that isn’t clearly explained or defined, it still produces a good setup. Plus, it’s completely feasible that something like this would happen, and it did in real life — this is based on a true story.
Anyway, the second act begins and we have the old band members trying to audition the new band members. They find the components, though the focus of the find is really on the young lead, Drainpipe (Jamie Blackley). Blackley plays a very likable character, who does a good job with playing the lead pseudo-band member. He has the looks, personality and drive to make Drainpipe a worthy young replacement for Daniels’ Jones.
Not a bad start to the second act, but it sadly doesn’t last.
The movie decides to throw another complicated element into an already soon-to-be large amount of complication. Instead of just sticking with the main plot point of the old band fooling the world/record label with their pseudo-band, director/writer Sara Sugarman and writer Jim Cooper feel the need to make Drainpipe potentially the son of Jones, which creates tension and later drama.
It’s not a bad complication for the relationship between Jones and Drainpipe, but it is treated really sloppily. You don’t have a real connection between the two, even with the quick montage of old and new bands bonding. The director/writers try to get away with it by chiseling Drainpipe into the image of a former Jones, but it never fully comes to fruition because they don’t give it enough time to happen. The build-up to the new band forming is pretty much dashed as soon as it hits its pinnacle. One of the old band members decides to let the cat out of the bag with the record label, only to cause unneeded/unnecessary tension between the bands.
Regardless, the movie pushes forward.
At this point, the movie really doesn’t do well handling things. The old band instantly ditches the young band, or tries to, and the young band really doesn’t have a strong role in this final act. It’s a messy situation that doesn’t make sense and is treated in a shallow, hurried way.
By the end, everything does turn out well for everyone, but the spiral and final roller coaster ride uphill isn’t put together well at all. Had they concentrated on the two bands without the added dramatic element of father/son, it might have worked out better. There really wasn’t a need to give the father/son conflict as much time as it was given, maybe they should have taken that and revealed it at the end. Keep the audience focused on one crisis in this structure, as it’s the best bet.
Overall, Vinyl isn’t a bad movie, but it’s a bit of a mess in the middle. It does come together at the end, but the trip to get to that ending isn’t as smooth and enjoyable as it could have been. Anyway, check it out, possibly by starting with a rental first.
On a more positive note, Shout! Factory did a great job with the Blu-ray transfer. The picture quality in Vinyl is beautiful with little to no graininess or imperfections. The opening scenes on the farm are great example of this, though brief, as you can really see the HD crisp and clarity shine through green and blue colors. While the English backdrop doesn’t do much in most scenes to make the HD come out because of its natural dreariness (see the funeral scene for examples), there’s a lot to appreciate with the lack of compression issues and artifacts in the picture. It’s just a really good HD transfer.
Sadly, there are no features on this release.