Powder (15)
Starring: Liam Boyle, Alfie Allen, Ralf Little
The most disconcerting aspect about this tale of rival indie rock bands is how seriously it takes itself.
"The day I don't have time for music is the day I fall on my sword," Keva (Liam Boyle) the moody, Ian Curtis-like lead singer of Liverpool band The Grams, tells his sycophantic friend Helmet (Al Weaver), who is busy stealing his songs and forming a rival band. Keva's music, we're told at one stage, is "cosmic, man. It's unbelievable". At times, you think you're watching a Comic Strip Presents-style lampoon of the British indie-rock scene in its full navel-gazing absurdity. Then, it dawns that any humour here is largely incidental. The scenes of the Grams performing at the V Festival have real energy, but the overall effect is deadening.
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