We're with the Band

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We're with the Band

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By Ben Elliott

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The rockstar has become such an enduring cinematic trope that it’s hard to believe Hollywood went more than 30 years without it. But ever since Alan Freed popularized the term “rock’n’roll” in the 1950s, movies have been obsessed with popular music and the messy people who make it.

At first, rock music signaled teenage rebellion in films like Blackboard Jungle, but it didn’t take long for studios to recognize its commercial potential. Movies like Jailhouse Rock and Help! were built around real-life phenomena like Elvis Presley and The Beatles. Over time, we lived with rock and pop long enough for these artists to become fodder for traditional biopics — the stories of rebellious young artists repackaged for award recognition in movies like Ray, Walk the Line, Bohemian Rhapsody, Elvis, and A Complete Unknown.

Almost Famous, 2000

But somewhere between the hagiographies and the jukebox musicals, fictional band movies carved out a space to celebrate what we love about musicians without getting bogged down in facts. Some act as unofficial biopics — The Rose, Velvet Goldmine — while others romanticize an era, like That Thing You Do or Almost Famous.

That Thing You Do!, 1996

The Ballad of Wallis Island, opening at The Triplex this week, brings a melancholy twist to the subgenre by introducing us to the fictional McGwyer and Mortimer after they’ve already broken up. Invited to a remote island by an eccentric billionaire superfan hoping to reunite the duo for a private concert, the movie crafts a dry, funny look at the artist-audience relationship by posing all the usual questions about the cost of making art, plus one more: What, if anything, do musicians owe the people who love them?

When we find joy in someone else’s art, it’s easy to forget the human behind it. We want more — more songs, more shows, more access — but we rarely stop to think about what it takes to give it. Band movies remind us that this kind of music is a limited resource. It’s a mix of joy, heartbreak, ego, and time that takes a toll on its creators. Most of all, they remind us that if someone’s music becomes the soundtrack to our life, we need to remember they have one of their own.

Showtimes

Showtimes Freakier Friday | 1:00PM, 3:30PM, 6:00PM, 8:30PM The Life of Chuck | 1:15PM, 4:15PM Highest 2 Lowest | 1:45PM, 4:45PM, 8:00PM The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg | 7:00PM

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