When I saw the previews for Frank, I knew that I would wait to watch it at home because while I find the premise intriguing, that a man can be taken seriously while constantly wearing a paper-mache head, this seemed a bit too white even for me, a fan of artsy fartsy experimental films. Frank stars Michael Fassbender as the titular character, Domhnall Gleeson as Jon, the everyman whom the viewer can relate to that gets drawn into Frank’s world, and Maggie Gyllenhaal as the hostile band member who is protective of Frank and the band’s work.
If you are familiar with Jon Ronson’s work, Frank is loosely inspired on an early period of his life so if you enjoy his brand of offbeat analysis, this movie is for you. Imagine a Wes Anderson film with a normal person suddenly pulled off the street and interacting with the characters. Jon is an aspiring songwriter. When we meet him, we see traces of Frank’s band before he encounters them. His destiny is slowly approaching, and he is oblivious to it until he meets them at a dramatic turning point for one of their members. The band, Soronprfbs, needs someone, and he is suddenly in.
What makes Frank work is we bring assumptions of what it means to finally get an opportunity to pursue your dream, take a leap of faith by investing everything into that dream and become a success. This film seems to take that route, but is also challenging us to ask if Jon’s imposition of that trope on these people is right and fame is the ultimate goal or is there something else going on. Jon shares his experiences on virtual media, Twitter, YouTube and Tumblr, and as the band’s fame grows, Jon becomes more central to Frank’s band, much to the consternation of the other band mates.
Frank the film manages to make Frank a sincere character deserving of Jon’s trust. In real life, I would probably stay far away from some dude with a paper-mache head, but there is another trope of the eccentric creative genius that counters common sense. When ordinary people with no interest in music encounter Frank, he charms them and leaves them feeling uplifted by the delightful interaction. Frank’s weirdness gives other people permission to explore and embrace the whimsical, creative parts of themselves that usually remain suppressed and dormant. Frank encourages us to be our best selves. If Frank wasn’t credible, Jon would not be relatable. Frank isn’t a gimmick. He is genuine. People like Frank reminds us of how special everything is and help us to stop taking things for granted.
Frank the film depicts how Jon changes from wanting to pursue his dream of making music to becoming famous and successful. The movie poses an important question that we should constantly ask ourselves: are we seeing things as they are, are we valuing them for who they are or are we violently imposing our agenda on to someone or something instead of appreciating the inherent value. A lot of life is balancing fantasy with the real world, and just because the two don’t match up does not render the fantasy or experience useless.
I also have to applaud how Frank soberly and gently calibrates our perspective to see the reality of the eccentric creative genius without diminishing its worth. It is an extremely responsible way of navigating the world without diminishing the person. It is also a cautionary tale of getting too swept away in your own world without dismissing the beauty of that world. If you told me that by the end of the movie, I would be completely enraptured by the beauty of the final scene and song, I would not have believed you. Viewed in a vacuum, that final song is nothing special, but at the end of this ninety-five minute journey, it is a vindication, a homecoming, a silent recognition, a knitting back together of pieces that are simply broken when they are apart. It is hesed.
I was so moved that I saw Frank two times in a row. Frank feels like what Ingrid Goes West wanted to be and more organically captures he rhythm of toggling between the real and virtual world without wholly dismissing the one over the other. It distinguishes the fictional construct of the virtual world from reality. As the virtual world showers more accolades, the real world begins to fall apart until we prefer the silent, obscure truth and let it simply exist. Don’t get high on your own supply.
If you ever doubted whether or not Fassbender was a good actor or not, sticking a giant paper-mache head on him and still getting a riveting performance should answer that question. Gyllenhaal has always been a fearless actor, but the fierceness and willfully unhinged performance that she gives in Frank is so unique and not reminiscent of any person that I have met in real life yet felt completely authentic that I am completely impressed by her creation. When she encourages Jon to play a song, and he panics, she silently communicates to him, and no one else in the room, “You’re nothing.” If looks could kill….
Frank is a weird film, but if you could abandon your preconceptions and just fully experience each moment as it comes, you will enjoy it. It is a beautiful homage to the weirdos that make life better and pushes us to our furthest corners.