By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 1 cat
Director: Ari Gold
Starring: Adrian Grenier | Ari Gold | Jane Lynch | Michael McKean | Shoshannah Stern | Steven Williams
Country: united_states
Year: 2008
Running time: 96
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0960721/
Bruce says: “Two hours before the screening of the comedy ADVENTURES OF POWER at the Provincetown International Film Festival I attended the Awards Ceremony where Jane Lynch was one of the honorees. Ms. Lynch was entertaining and informative as she discussed the role of serendipity in her career. Clips of many of her films were shown. Not once was ADVENTURES OF POWER mentioned. Now that should have been an omen.
“Having loved AIR GUITAR NATION I thought that I would give air drumming a whirl. Serves me right for not doing my homework, although there seems to be limits to available resources. Some indicators such as iMDB (93% of voters tabbing 4 or more cats) and Netflix (3.4 average rating) hardly could prepare anyone for what’s in store. Rotten Tomatoes would be a better resource save the N/A Tomatometer; the film so far has only two reviews, both negative.
“Comparisons could probably be made to NAPOLEON DYNAMITE. Where NAPOLEON excelled in almost every respect ADVENTURES OF POWER falls flat on all counts. The biggest problem is that writer/director/star Ari Gold relies on spastic behavior and dumbing-down to get his laughs. The operating axiom here is: if it is stupid and tacky, it will be funny. One person in the theater laughed hysterically throughout the film; the rest of us laughed sparingly, if at all.
“Power (Gold) is a miner, along with his strike leading widowed father (Michael McKean), in a small town in southern New Mexico. Ruthless officials make life difficult and there is a rumor the mine might close. Power lives in his aunt’s basement and his free time is spent practicing air drumming so he can compete (without success) in the local talent contest. One night he sneaks over the Mexican border to compete in an air drumming contest where he is spotted by a man who thinks he should go to Newark and join a team of air drummers. With encouragement from his aunt (Jane Lynch) he sets off. In Newark he gets a job in a Chinese restaurant where he trades menial work for food and the privilege of sleeping on the kitchen floor. Upstairs, a religious fanatic lives with her deaf daughter (Shoshannah Stern). Ari falls in love with the daughter. The air drumming team, coached by an armless man named Carlos (Steven Williams), is an ethic mix unlike any you have seen on screen. They practice diligently. When the time comes for the ‘Big Competition’ who should be their main rival but the son of the ruthless millionaire mine owner (Adrian Grenier), who is a famous rapping country singer specializing in outrageously disgusting behavior. Who will win? Will Power get the girl? If you care, please go see this movie. Then again you might want to buy the soundtrack which includes Def Leppard, Styx, Journey, Rush and David Lee Roth. 1 cat
“ADVENTURES OF POWER screened at the 2008 Provincetown International Film Festival.”