Grade: 91/100
“How to describe Frank…”
The main character Jon says this to himself in the middle of “Frank,” and the line perfectly illustrates discussion of the entire movie.
The film follows Jon Burroughs, played by Domhnall Gleeson, a young musician desperate to find the deeper level of songwriting he has dreamed of.
“Frank” tugs at the feelings that accompany writing music and tackles the difficult task of portraying the life of someone suffering with mental illness.
Michael Fassbender does amazingly at revealing some of the struggles someone who is mentally unstable goes through without even showing his face in the majority of the film.
It also explains that someone who is mentally unstable can come from a loving and caring home, and tragic events are not necessarily the spark for mental illness.
The sometimes uncomfortable scenes challenge viewers to broaden their scope and accept that not everything is perfect and not every story has a fairytale ending.
This is exemplified by the clear attitude separation between Jon and the rest of the band from the first time they meet the jaded Englishman.
Jon is asked to play an impromptu gig with a band whose name he cannot even pronounce.
After a couple of weeks, the band’s lead vocalist and leader Frank (Fassbender) invites Jon to play yet another gig in Ireland. The band’s manager then informs him that they will be recording the album, unbeknownst to Jon, and they would be staying in small house in the middle of nowhere until it was completed.
Upon meeting Frank for the first time, Jon sees that he is wearing a large fake head atop his real head. The head is an average looking man that is never removed from Frank’s head, the band manager tells Jon, even when he showers and sleeps.
Through the odd chaos that is Frank, Jon finds peace and happiness in the music Frank and the band create. However, he eventually destroys the sanctity of trust and camaraderie in the band by trying to force fame upon them and himself.
“Frank” has cripplingly funny and melancholy moments that make for a whirlwind of emotions by the film’s end.