THE STORY – This documentary about the American indie band Pavement combines scripts with documentary images of the band and a musical mise-en-scene composed of songs from their discography.
THE CAST – Joe Keery, Jason Schwartzman, Nat Wolff, Fred Hechinger, Logan Miller, Griffin Newman, Tim Heidecker, Michael Esper, Zoe Lister-Jones & Kathryn Gallagher
THE TEAM – Alex Ross Perry (Director/Writer) & Stephen Malkmus (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 128 Minutes
At a time when Hollywood was churning out documentaries about musical bands left and right, it was only a matter of time before the “most influential” and “most impactful” group got its flowers: Pavement. Yes, you read that right. This underground slacker rock band from Stockton may have gone way under your radar. Still, director Alex Ross Perry is changing that with “Pavements,” his part-documentary/part-mockumentary/part-musical theater show/part-for your consideration in all Oscar categories rock biopic. With colorful editing reminiscent of the band’s ‘90s heyday and enough content to move through, it’s a creative spin on the usual formula that will keep viewers engaged throughout. However, it does start to feel like a joke that keeps going for too long after a while.
There’s always something interesting to look at with this film, and you often battle to catch it all when dual screens are used. One might feature archive footage of the quintet or scenes from their rehearsals for a 2022 reunion tour (original band members include Stephen Malkmus (vocals and guitar), Scott Kannberg (guitar and vocals), Mark Ibold (bass), Steve West (drums), and Bob Nastanovich (percussion and vocals). The other will either show a musical theater group rehearsing for an upcoming musical called “Slated! Enchanted!” about the band or behind-the-scenes moments from the fake Hollywood biopic Perry is making called “Range Life.” Depending on which screen you should pay attention to, the audio will go in and out, which is quite helpful when things get a little too busy.
When the film focuses more on the band’s original story, it takes on a typical documentary format. Old archive footage from past interviews and concerts is edited in a 1990s MTV style that feels most appropriate for this band from yesteryear. It’s always so distracting when music documentaries don’t try to match the vibe that the band is associated with, often looking too clean and too modern, and this is one of few that succeeds by reminiscing on the ‘90s with a grunge look to it. Only when the film is focused on the present does it reflect modernity. The footage also tells how these Stockton slackers formed bands and got kicked out of them until they landed with Pavement. However, they were never the next great thing, as many members, particularly Malkmus, weren’t interested in fame or selling out. They stayed true to themselves, leading to disastrous performances on late-night shows or music festivals and eventually their fizzling out. It’s all quite informative and material that fans and those just discovering the group can appreciate.
This film’s other elements don’t get as much of a deep dive, but they’re interesting nonetheless. An actual musical based on Pavement’s discography — something no one ever thought would happen — occurred in New York City. Scenes featuring actors auditioning and rehearsing are sprinkled throughout the film. It’s actually the most exciting aspect of this documentary because of how random the blend of genres is, but it’s not showcased enough. The few interviews we get with cast members are about their connections to Pavement, but it’d be more interesting to know how the show was created and the story being told. A pop-up museum exhibit, Pavements: 1933-2022, is also shown. Again, there’s not much information about its curation. Still, it features many artifacts from the band’s history discussed earlier in the film, such as their muddy clothing from a failed Lollapalooza performance.
The narrative film portion is the least utilized here. Actors Joe Keery, Griffin Newman, Nat Wolff, Fred Hechinger, and Logan Miller each play the musicians, while Jason Schwartzman and Chris Heidecker take the roles of music executives. At times, we see them reenact scenes we’ve already seen in the film, but more often than not, the actors share their thoughts on the band and being part of the project. Keery gets more of a spotlight and shows off his comedy chops by poking fun at method acting, only responding when people call him “Stephen” on set and later having a hard time shaking off the musician’s mannerisms. But there does come a time when the schtick keeps going and going with no end in sight – there are only so many scenes of him watching footage in a theater that needs to be shown. Not to mention, we barely see any actual scenes from the biopic itself (there is a fun “For Your Consideration” gag during pivotal Oscar clip scenes that is amusing). In general, the film begins to drag toward the end as it tries to close all the chapters of this sprawling film.
“Pavements” could have been like any other musical documentary out there, but good on Perry for trying something new with this jam-packed film that, like its main subjects, is anything but traditional. While it would have benefitted from diving into each of its components more – each could honestly have a film about it – at least there’s plenty to go around to keep people interested.
