Roadie

2012
Roadie
6| 1h35m| R| en| More Info
Released: 06 January 2012 Released
Producted By: Magnolia Pictures
Country:
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://www.roadiemovie.com/
Synopsis

After 20 years on the road with Blue Oyster Cult, Jimmy Testagros returns to his hometown to life with his ailing mother. Complications arise when he falls for an old friend, who is now married to his longtime nemesis.

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Reviews

MovieHoliks Ron Eldard stars in this terrific character study about a middle-aged roadie who is recently fired from his job working with the has-been band "The Blue Oyster Cult", and so returns to his home town and hangs out at his mom's place, and with some old friends- Bobby Cannavale and Jill Hennessy. Eldard is great in the titular role playing a character not unlike most of us, who wanted to achieve great things in life but had to settle (like most of us do) for second best, sorta living out his fantasies through his next chain of command. I thought it was interesting they chose an actual real band for him to work for (even though we never see them in the film), and they say in the movie he started working for them twenty years ago-?? -so they were already a "has-been" group when he started with them-?? LOL And *possible SPOILER*- for those who have already seen this-->> did you guess that he was making it all up about him managing and writing songs for them-?? I pretty much did, and thought that was actually a great added touch for the character-?? -really made him more pathetic, but at the same time made you empathize with him to a greater degree-?? Well, I really enjoyed this piece- good performances all around, good music, good dialogue, etc..- now streaming on Showtime!
AZDomz I watched this movie for two reasons. First, I am a huge fan of Blue Oyster Cult. Been listening to BOC since 1973 and have seen them about 60 times in concert. Second, I worked as a sound engineer, stage manager, production assistant and local crew stagehand at thousands of shows in Arizona. Though I only did a few "road" gigs and most of what I did was local work, I have many "roadie" friends that have been around the world with some pretty big named bands. So my love for BOC and my time spent working in the business is what drew me to this movie. While the story is a bit slow, I still liked it and could relate to many of the scenes. I remember going back to my old high school bedroom at my parent's house after moving away. It was pretty surreal just like in the movie when Jimmy comes home, puts on an old Robin Trower record and lays in his bed surrounded by posters of his rock heroes from the days of his youth and sings along at the top of his lungs. I can also relate to bumping into old friends after I had moved away and some of the dialog and reminiscing that takes place. Of course, I loved the soundtrack! Not many movies feature Buck's Boogie, Last Days Of May, See You in Black, Cities on Flames and The Red and The Black! Plus some Trower, Tull and of course Jackson Browne's tribute to roadies, The Load Out! One of my favorite parts is when they are in the bar and Jimmy is trying to describe BOC's music. Something that many have tried to do for years now and failed. Jimmy says "The Thinking Man's Metal" "That's how the critic's described them" and to me that best sums it up. Jimmy and Nicky are in the bar and Cities On Flame is playing on the juke box. Nicky says he never got BOC and Jimmy attempts to explain how good they were to him. The script goes something like this: "And the drumming, it would get all jazzy, but underneath all those f#@%ing heavy riffs!I mean Buck Dharma, his solo on Dominance and Submission is without question the BEST hard rock guitar solo of the era, hands down! It sums up everything that came before it. I mean Hendrix, Zeppelin, Townshend. Dharma, he takes a little bit from all of them and mashes it all together into one f#@%in' brilliant solo that says, THIS! THIS is what it's all about! It was like science fiction poetry on a turntable. All these weird worlds. They were just so much smarter than everything else that was around. Naw man, BOC, they were better. And they should have been even bigger!" For me the movie was just what I expected, no blockbuster, no action packed car chases, just a movie about coming home to your roots to see your aging mom, your rusted out old car, your old neighborhood, some old high school friends and the collection of vinyl and rock posters in your bedroom that would allow you to escape reality for just a little while.
stevekour-843-565883 This is a character driven film about a man who is a fan of music and couldn't be a rock star but as a fan of BOC, became on of their roadies and traveled with them all over the world for two decades... probably about a decade and a few years too long. He's not in the best health. He probably should have given up his roadie job a long time ago and taken his parents advice to become a teacher. He's had fun, but the the lifestyle and years have taken a toll on him. His mother is elderly, living by herself with some aging friends next door and she clearly needs help. She loves her son and kept his room as almost a shrine to him, just as he left it in the 1980's. His old rusted out Firebird sits in the driveway.I'm a fan of music and Ron Eldard and Jill Hennessy. It was cool hearing Jill perform in the film. She sounded great and she's nice to look at also. The BOC songs were great and I especially liked the perfect closing track by Jackson Brown.In the end I wanted to see Jimmy stay at home and take care of his mother. Maybe get in shape and go back to school. Maybe he could be a teacher. I wondered if Jimmy really could play guitar? Could he pick it back up and maybe he and Nikkie could perform together? This movie almost seemed like a pilot for a television series. If it were a series, it would be one that I would watch. I see people are watching this one on Netflix... hopefully this will be a money maker in the end.
bdgill12 After 20 years of lugging gear and setting up equipment for the Blue Oyster Cult, Jimmy (Ron Eldard) is unceremoniously fired and abandoned by the band members he considered to be friends. With no identity outside of his status as a roadie and no life plans, Jimmy ends up heading back home for the first time in a decade. After crashing in his old bedroom, Jimmy comes into contact with Randy (Bobby Cannavale), his high-school nemesis who happens to be married to Nikki (Jill Hennessey), an old flame he never really got over. With nothing to show for his time away from home, Jimmy begins making up stories and eventually draws Randy's ire, creating an uncomfortable situation that further messes with Jimmy's already fragile mental state.Roadie is like a conflict between two mountain goats (I know that "bighorn sheep" would be a more scientifically correct title but "mountain goat" just sounds better): one goat represents the acting in this film, chiefly that of Eldard, and the other represents the storyline and general exposition of said storyline. The Acting Goat is an outstanding specimen. Eldard is one of my very favorite character actors, a guy who always draws my attention no matter how big or small his role in a given movie may be. (This makes him a member of the "Barry Pepper All-Stars", a list of actors I really need to write a piece about one of these days.) This is a rare leading role for Eldard and he shines brilliantly. Jimmy is easy to root for despite not really showing many qualities that usually make one likable and that is due to Eldard's ability to convey a measure of truthfulness, or perhaps relevance, to his character. The lack of purpose and the search for meaning in his life work make Jimmy an appealing protagonist in this sort of slow- paced, character-driven drama. There is also an edge of genuine desperation to Jimmy and through this trait Eldard gives real weight to a character which otherwise might have been pointless. The supporting players around Eldard are all solid as well, though none quite measure up to the work of the leading man.The Story Goat, however, is an equally impressive beast but one that works for evil instead of good. Simply put, the events of Roadie are about as bland as you can get. It isn't what I would call "boring" necessarily and yet nothing much happens. Jimmy comes into town, Jimmy pals around with some old friends, and then Jimmy threatens to leave town once more. That's about it. The settings that Roadie inhabits are uninteresting and the dialogue within is unimpressive. As a result, the story undermines Eldard's work and leaves him virtually trapped in a dull and somewhat meaningless world that serves as a stark contrast to the appealing lead character. In the end, neither the Acting Goat nor the Story Goat really win; instead, the two tire out and settle in for a nice nap, a genuine shame considering all that this film had going for it. Check out my reviews at ieatfilms.com and thesoapboxoffice.blogspot.com