Not Fade Away (film)

''Not Fade Away'' is a 2012 American drama film and the first directed by ''The Sopranos creator, David Chase. It was released on December 21, 2012.

Plot

In 1960s suburban New Jersey, a group of friends form a rock band and try to make it big.

In his late teens, Douglas Damiano lives with: his father Pat, who suffers from psoriasis and is physically rough with Douglas; his mother Antoinette, who frequently grows hysterical and threatens suicide; and his sister Evelyn. Douglas sees his friend Eugene Gaunt singing and playing lead guitar for a band in high school, and resolves to join the band to earn the affections of Grace Dietz. Douglas gets his chance when the band's drummer, Schindewulf, is drafted to go to Vietnam.

In the wake of the "British Invasion", Gene is trying to remodel his band after the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, and he believes Douglas is suited to this style. Following an awkward bass player losing his position, the core of the band is Douglas, Gene, and their friend Wells. Wells plays rhythm guitar, and Douglas plays drums and sings backup vocals.

At a party Gene accidentally swallows a joint while trying to smoke it and is unable to sing. Douglas takes over on lead vocals, and the band members later agree that he is superior to Gene. Gene feels threatened by Douglas and tries to keep the spotlight on himself. Meanwhile, Douglas tells his father that he intends to join the army and get an ROTC scholarship, but abandons these plans after the Vietnam War begins. He drops out of college to pursue his musical career full-time, which drives a rift between himself and Pat.

Eventually Douglas gets involved with Grace, but their relationship suffers when Wells reveals that Grace used to fellate him and others regularly. Douglas and Grace have an argument in which she wrongly accuses him of sleeping with her sister Joy. During a concert, Eugene juggles firecrackers in protest of the war, but fumbles and burns his scalp, humiliating himself and the band. Douglas goes to Gene's house to formally kick him out of the band, and they end up fighting until Gene's father restrains his son.

After the eccentric, counter-culture Joy is committed to a mental hospital, Douglas and a grief-stricken Grace get back together. As Pat learns that his psoriasis is actually mycosis fungoides cancer, he begins to mellow, sharing a dinner with his son and revealing family secrets.

By 1967, Douglas and Wells get the opportunity to audition for Jerry Ragovoy. They recruit Gene back into the band for the audition, although Gene tells them he wants a "featured" credit on their performance of an original song, "The St. Valentine's Day Massacre". Ragovoy sees potential in the band, but outlines a rigorous performance schedule before he's ready to sign them to a contract. He states that great music is "ten percent inspiration and ninety percent perspiration," a sentiment earlier expressed to Douglas by his father. The band is disillusioned with this prospect.

After Wells is injured in a motorcycle accident, the potential record deal is postponed for another year. Douglas, who is losing interest in the rock and roll lifestyle, decides to go to film school in California. While at a party in Los Angeles, Douglas sees Charlie Watts leaving the house and hears a rumor that Mick Jagger is in the bathroom with several women, although nobody actually sees Jagger.

Douglas tries to hitchhike home and is invited into the car of a strange-looking woman who comments that he looks lonesome. Unsettled, Douglas refuses the ride and walks home. Looking around the downtown scene, he looks to the sky and witnesses again the illuminated clouds that so inspired him before. Smiling, Douglas walks down the street.

Evelyn walks down the same street, and muses aloud that she is writing an essay about America's two biggest innovations: nuclear weapons and rock 'n roll. She speculates as to which one will win in the end, then dances to the Sex Pistols cover of "Roadrunner" in the middle of the street.

Cast

* John Magaro as Douglas Damiano
* Jack Huston as Eugene Gaunt
* Will Brill as Wells
* Bella Heathcote as Grace Dietz
* Brad Garrett as Jerry Ragovoy
* Christopher McDonald as Jack Dietz
* James Gandolfini as Pat Damiano
* Isiah Whitlock Jr. as Landers
* Dominique McElligott as Joy Dietz
* Molly Price as Antoinette Damiano
* Meg Guzulescu as Evelyn Damiano
* Gerard Canonico as Schindewulf

Other minor appearances include comedian Lisa Lampanelli as Aunt Josie; Louis Mustillo as Uncle Johnny Vitelloni; Robert Funaro as Uncle Murf; Justine Lupe as Candace; Lucie Pohl as Severine; Alfie Stewart as Keith; Dominic Sherwood as Mick; Julia Garner as the strange-looking girl in the car; Jay Weinberg as a jazz drummer; Charlie Plummer as Grace's little brother; Bob Bandiera as a jingle guitarist; Levi Wilson as Charlie Watts.

Reception

''Rotten Tomatoes'', a review aggregator, reports that 68% of 92 surveyed critics gave the film a positive review; the average rating is 6.50/10. The site's consensus reads, "Exuberant and bittersweet, ''Not Fade Away'' is a coming-of-age story set to a British Invasion beat that occasionally meanders but mostly charms."

Keith Uhlich of ''Time Out New York'' named ''Not Fade Away'' the second-best film of 2012, citing it as proof that Chase's work on ''The Sopranos'' was "no fluke". In 2020, Uhlich named it the eighth-best film of the 2010s.

Soundtrack listing

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Not Fade Away
2012 films
2012 drama films
American drama films
Films about music and musicians
Films set in Los Angeles
Films set in New Jersey
Films set in the 1960s
Indian Paintbrush (production company) films
Paramount Vantage films
The Weinstein Company films
2012 directorial debut films
2010s English-language films
2010s American films