Venus de Milo

Simon Boivert is back in the second part of his famous trilogy. Virtually unknown by the average video store customer, Boisvert is a very special phenomenon of Quebec's underground scene. He writes his film's screenplay and always cast himself as the main character. Even if this reminds of Stallone and his Rocky film, Boivert is no Itallian Stallion.

Actually he's a not-so-good looking skinny boy in his mid-thirties. There is nothing wrong with that in the first place. The main problem is that Boivert cast himself as characters thats has nothing to do with his profile, such as womanizers and, in this new film, rock stars.

Even with the combined effects of cinema magic and hard drugs, it's barely possible to actually believe that Dan, Boisvert's character, is a sex-appeal loaded talented rock star. Worst, his screenplay seems completely out of track. Even if we're talking about a 2002 flick, the musical references looks as they were out of 1989. While listening to Boisvert's juvenile dialog you can't help yourself and say : "Simon, you have no life".

But the movie is directed by somebody who actually knows film-making, making Simon's contribution to it look even more flawed and embarrassing. Yes, this movie is crap. But still, watching it is a strange guilty pleasure. Yes Simon, you are, and you will always be, one of a kind.

Although the title can be misleading, Venus de Milo tells the story of a rock band lead by Dan, a great guitarist who can't find a record deal because his band only plays instrumental music. Against his will, he hires a female singer and sends his demo to a big record company. The executive at the record company throws his CD in the garbage without listening to it, but fortunately for Dan, the janitor picks it up and brings it to another record company where he also works and the exec from that other company calls Dan. Yes, it seems a bit contrived, but stranger things have happened. The rest of the movie shows the band on stage and backstage until their breakup.

There is not much intrigue in this film, however, it is an insightful look at the music business. Anybody who plays or has played in a band hoping to make it big would relate to this movie. But even those who don't will find interesting elements like the relationships between the band members and their manager. The music is pretty good and contrary to a lot of films about music stars, it is believable that this fictious band would be at the top of the local charts. The actors did a great job on stage and the chemistry between them is good, although I would have liked to see more of the relationship between Dan and the singer. It would have been an interesting aspect to explore since the band consisted of three guys and two girls. I also liked the fact that we did not see most of the clichés about rock'n'roll like drugs, groupies, violence, etc., although they seem to drink a lot of beer ! The story is about the struggle of unknown good musicians who can't get along when they actually become famous. Overall, a very good indie film.