FNC 2024: Pavements Review

This will be one of many reviews during this year’s edition of Montreal’s ‘Festival du Nouveau Cinéma,’ to keep up with our latest coverage, click here

Alex Ross Perry’s Pavements is an experimental, docu-fiction hybrid that incorporates the reunion of the titular band, a spoof biopic, a musical, and a museum exhibit. Perry goes above and beyond to make sure each element of this chaotic documentary is grounded by careful planning of real milestone events from the band’s history. He takes the reins in creating a real musical centered around Pavement songs that premiered in December 2022. The film highlights the inner workings of the musical, showcasing his guidance, rehearsals led by choreographer Angela Trimbur, and the use of Broadway regulars such as Michael Esper. Additionally, Perry takes the mantle in directing a biopic that dramatizes the events of Pavement’s history with Joe Keery delving deep into character as lead singer, Stephen Malkmus.

The constant self-deprecating humor keeps it mostly afloat as its actors and documentary participants take digs about not knowing the band. Audiences unfamiliar with the band, however, won’t receive much in the way of insight as the film put its own spin on the traditional biopic formula by serving more as a tribute to the legacy of the band. That being said, its experimental approach will surely alienate those who are unaware of the band. In the end, regardless of its execution, audiences should still give this film a try if only to encourage filmmakers to utilize more experimental methods of filmmaking.

In this case, the execution is where Pavements falters the most, as its dynamic segments are not balanced enough to maintain a proper pace throughout Perry’s eccentric way of storytelling. The segments are significantly not proportional in the amount of time they are given and the transitions between each other kill the tension built up in the segment that came before it. In particular, the development of the fake biopic is given more focus than the musical and the exhibition, which is unfortunate given that Perry should get his due for his elaborate setup for the film’s much more interesting latter two segments.

Much of the humor is at the expense of Keery as this version of himself goes full method acting in the hopes of achieving the kind of success of similar recent Oscar-winning performances. As admirable as it is to see him attempt such a complex task, his ambitious role falls short as he struggles to balance the story’s meta elements. Meanwhile, very little focus is given to the other actors playing the band and crew members, including Jason Schwartzman and Tim Heidecker who are wasted in a niche genre that they would have otherwise excelled in. While it is not clear whether the Broadway cast and crew were aware of Perry’s elaborate plan, they were incredibly committed to giving it their all in the rehearsals and the opening night performances with Esper and Zoe Lister-Jones to highlight in particular.

In the end, Pavements is a refreshing change from the biopic formula, as Perry utilizes many moving parts. However, he fails to deliver enough of a proper balance of these moving parts to provide suitable pacing. If anything, Perry’s ambition in attempting an experimental approach here should be more than enough to warrant a recommendation.

still courtesy of Mubi

If you liked this, please read our other reviews here and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or Instagram or like us on Facebook.

Costa Christoulas

letterboxd.com/cchris_/