The most wonderful element of David Chase’s coming-of-age drama set in the 1960’s is the glorious music.  This is the time when The Beatles started finding success and the world was also discovering the likes of The Rolling Stones.  

Douglas an American/Italian geeky high school kid in New Jersey gets invited by his best friend to start their own rock band which seems to be main purpose in life for most of their peers too. His blue-collar hard working father angrily objected to this distraction away from school work which he thinks will mean that Douglas wont make college, whilst his put-upon mother is as bitter with him as she is with the rest of her life.

The story covers the years of 1963 to 1968 when the world was coming to terms with such historical landmarks as the Kennedy and Luther King assassinations on the one hand, and the sexual revolution on the other.  It follows Douglas’s trials too as he discovers that he has a voice and shouldn’t be just lurking in the background playing drums, and that also he has a libido that girls find attractive.  One in particular, Grace, a girl from the posh side of the tracks hears the voice, but falls in love with the man that young Douglas is fast becoming.

The boys in the band squabble as they look for musical direction … ‘how come the English know all about the blues and we didn’t, even though its been under our noses all the time’ …. and Douglas and Grace as adolescents struggling with the new sexual freedom, also have their ups and downs.  The music they play is good, but it doesn’t necessary mean they are going to make the big time, and the romance is not that special aside from the fact that this will be their very first one. Nevertheless it is rather an enchanting story.

Mr Chase, if you don’t know already, was the creator of The Sopranos, so what he doesn’t know about the authenticity of living in New Jersey can be written on a postage stamp. What he has painstakingly achieved here is a perfect period right down to the most minutest detail and without falling into the trap of making it at all kitsch.  He has also peppered the plot with some neat touches of humor that add some lightness to all this teenage angst.

There are some sterling performances by seasoned pros such as James Gandolfini as the grumpy dad, Molly Price as the mother who rarely has the curlers out of her hair. and Brad Garrett as the Agent who may be the key to the big time.  But it is the young cast, some making film acting debuts here, that really make this piece sing, especially an exceptionally talented John Magaro in his first leading role as Douglas.

And then there is the music!  Some inspired choices of the hits of the time, and more original numbers written for the film. Absolutely electric …. and not simply because that this is the music of my youth too.  But those hairstyles!  Wow…. did I/we all look as bad as that? Hmmmm.

And did true love win through?  Did the Band ever get the fame they wanted?  That would be telling.  It is however worth checking out for yourself.

Available at Amazon

★★★★★★★★