This Isn’t Spinal Tap

It’s all here: the hair, the riffs, the disastrous gigs, the
dumb lyrics about sex, the boyhood friends who’ve been playing music
together most of their lives—and fighting each other for just as
long. There’s a scene in a deli where they hum the very first song they
wrote together. There’s a pilgrimage to Stonehenge. The drummer’s name
is Robb Reiner, for crying out loud.

But Anvil!: The Story of Anvil isn’t a meta-spoof of This
Is Spinal Tap concocted by snide comedians—no, this is a 100
percent true story, and all the more amazing for it. Reiner and Steve
“Lips” Kudlow have kept the dream of their metal band, Anvil, alive
since the early ’80s—when they almost made it big, but
were surpassed by Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, and Anthrax. Still, the
pair never got discouraged, and Anvil! depicts the Canadian
rockers—now in their fifties—as they continue to
desperately clutch at dreams of rock stardom.

It sounds pathetic, but that’s part of the movie’s appeal.
Anvil! is wickedly funny, and Reiner and Kudlow make a great
buddy team: Reiner remains stalwart and steady, while Kudlow stays
boyishly enthusiastic. The movie hits high notes when backstage at a
Swedish metal festival Kudlow’s inner fanboy kicks in and he giddily
scrambles after rockers like Carmine Appice and Tommy Aldridge (“Who?”
you might ask, rightly); or when Kudlow takes a soul-sucking job at a
telemarketing company (run by one of Anvil’s biggest fans) in order to
raise money for their next record.

It becomes a familiar but surprisingly emotional story, and I found
myself rooting for the band, even while not particularly wanting to
hear another note of their music. Now, with the acclaim of the
Anvil! film on the festival circuit and beyond—it’ll play
on VH1 later this year—it looks as though Anvil is finally
getting some of the attention they’ve been looking for. Lord knows
they’ve earned it.