Garage Days (2002)

The story of a young garage band in Sydney, Australia trying to make it big.

Director:

Alex Proyas

Writers:

Alex Proyas (story), Dave Warner (story),

Stars:

Kick Gurry, Maya Stange, Pia Miranda

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kick Gurry	...	Freddy
Maya Stange	...	Kate
Pia Miranda	...	Tanya
Russell Dykstra	...	Bruno
Brett Stiller	...	Joe
Chris Sadrinna	...	Lucy
Andy Anderson	...	Kevin
Marton Csokas	...	Shad Kern
Yvette Duncan	...	Angie
Gianluigi Carelli	...	Micky
Tiriel Mora	...	Thommo
Holly Brisley	...	Scarlet
Matthew Le Nevez	...	Toby
Dave Cotsios	...	Sprimp Lead Guitar
Chris 'Skinner' MacGuire	...	Sprimp Drummer

Storyline

A coming-of-age comedy about a young Sydney band trying to get a foothold in the competitive world of rock n' roll. After the band's first gig is a colossal failure, the lead singer takes it upon himself to go out and pursue the most successful rock manager in the country. Meanwhile the other members of the band continue to deal with the kind of every day life issues that can ultimately tear a band apart. It may be the dawn of a new millennium but it's still a long way to the top if you want to rock n' roll.

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Plot Keywords:

band | rock 'n' roll | australia | coming of age | sydney australia | 

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Taglines:

What if you finally got your big break and you just plain sucked?

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Genres:

Comedy | Music | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sexual content, drug use and language

Details

Official Sites:

Fox Searchlight

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 October 2002 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Dias de Ensaio

Filming Locations:

Enmore, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$20,600 (USA) (18 July 2003)

Gross:

$20,600 (USA) (18 July 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC), Mystery Clock Cinema

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The motorcycle featured in 'Fun With Drugs 1' sequence is a 1981 750cc T140E Triumph Bonneville

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Goofs

The cigarette that Shad hands Freddy in the nightclub is almost fully burnt, yet when Freddy takes it is full.

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Crazy Credits

The main cast dances around Bruno's apartment to the Tom Jones song "Help Yourself".

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Soundtracks

"It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)"
By AC/DC

User Reviews

The soundtrack is pretty good!

Unfortunately, the rest of the movie sucks on ice.

The "characters" are either overblown clichés (death-obsessed goth girl? Check. Drugged-out drummer with mod haircut? Check check. Ubiquitous use of eyeliner? Check check check!) or ridiculously annoying people who you'd never spend six seconds with in real life.

Script-wise, this is a soggy mess. There are three people credited with the story, which makes sense as there are at least three movies stitched together. My guess is that Dave Warner wrote a comedy, Alex Proyas penned a tragedy, and Michael Udesky scribbled in a notebook while tripping on liquid acid. Then each of them tore out every fourth page of his script, threw the remaining pages up in the air, and stapled the resulting mess together.

The, um, cinematography is aggravating. Tarantino is not hip, MTV is not edgy and that disjointed text-on-screen technique went out of vogue around the 1890's. As for the trip/rave/ingestion scenes, they're as effective as PSAs: Don't do drugs! Why? They're boring as all get-out.

Overall this is a sickeningly inauthentic movie. The acting is laughable, the comedy is unfunny, the pathos makes you hate these people even more than you previously did. All the tattoos look like they were drawn on with Magic Marker. And the band's total playing time is less than two minutes. 90 seconds of that is a fantasy scene.

The ONLY reason to acknowledge the existence of this celluloid horror is its soundtrack. Featuring the Jam, the Femmes, the Cure, Roxy Music and Tom Jones - that's entertainment. Just buy the record and skip this movie entirely.