Movie Review: Band Aid

Band Aid *** / *****

Directed by: Zoe Lister-Jones.

Written by: Zoe Lister-Jones.

Starring: Zoe Lister-Jones (Anna), Adam Pally (Ben), Fred Armisen (Dave), Susie Essman (Shirley), Retta (Carol), Hannah Simone (Grace), Ravi Patel (Bobby), Brooklyn Decker (Candice), Jamie Chung (Cassandra Diabla), Erinn Hayes (Crystal Vichycoisse).

 

Anyone who is married – or has been – knows that it is not easy. The rewards of a long marriage are plentiful, but the downfalls are there as well, and if you don’t reckon with them, and work on them, they can destroy the marriage. The marriage at the heart of Zoe Lister-Jones’ Band Aid is one of those marriages who, in real life, would probably end – not necessarily in fireworks, but just kind of fizzle out. The married life really isn’t for either of these people, but they’ve embraced it anyway – and considering that nothing else in their life is working out, they have to wonder what it says about them if this fails as well. This is obviously a setup for a musical comedy.

 

Band Aid was written and directed by Zoe Lister-Jones, who also stars as one half of the couple, Anna, and wrote all the songs as well. Her husband, Ben, is played by Adam Pally – and they play this L.A. couple whose life is basically a bunch of failed dreams – she once had a book deal, but that fell through, and now she’s an Uber driver – he was an artist, now making a living doing corporate logos – although sometimes he just blows that off to smoke weed and play video games. Everyone else they know seem to have their life in order – marriage, career, kids – and they have nothing. A miscarriage a year ago has left them sort of numb – especially since they don’t talk about it. They don’t talk about anything. Then, by chance, they pick up some instruments and start writing songs together – songs in which they say all the things they cannot say in real life. They drag in their weird neighbor Dave (Fred Armisen) to play the drums – although he often just sits there and listens to them yell at each other. But somehow, through the music, this couple comes together – at least for the time being.

 

All of this probably sounds more than a little insufferable, right? I know I had avoided the film – even if I fully support Lister-Jones’ idea to hire an all-female crew on the movie, because the whole thing sounded hopelessly twee – yet another film about hapless, grown-up hipsters who still act like teenagers. To be fair, some of that is true here – but not all of it. The film is peppered with enough humor, and enough genuine insights into marriage and relationships – and pivotally, the songs are good enough – that the whole thing doesn’t collapse under its own navel gazing weight. In fact, the film is more genuinely moving and insightful than most Sundance comedy/dramas I see in a given year.

 

Yes, to a certain extent, the whole thing is a pile of clichés – and while I like him just fine here, I’ve never warmed to Adam Pally as much as many seem to (he always strikes me as someone I wouldn’t want to spend any time in real life with – and if I did, I’d want to punch in the face). But there is genuine chemistry here, and the film is honest enough to admit that all this may just be temporary – that in a way, the music is yet another way for this couple not to deal with their shit. That sets it apart – enough – for it to be a decent movie. I look forward to what Lister-Jones does next.