Giles Borg’s 1234 tells the story of a motley crew of wannabe musicians as they jam, work, gig, fight, and almost reach fame together. It really is the same old song and the unfortunate truth of this extremely endearing film is that just like the band it is named after, it has potential and it is hard to understand why, when it looks like it might almost succeed, it drops away.
Following a cliché course, geeky Stevie and goofy Neil dream of leaving their telesales nine-to-fives for the world of live music. Educated musicians (note I did NOT say talented), they attach themselves to gruff guitarist Billy Dixon and his quirky bass-playing pal Emily and suddenly 1234 the band is formed. With regular practice in a community hall, a couple of dismal gigs and a heck of a lot demo CDs and postage stamps later, we watch the band teeter around the edges of recognition whilst struggling with sensitivities, opinions, aspirations, and the ‘real’ world. Despite the excellent characterization and witty script, I’m sorry to say that the film echoes the sentiments of its titular band and merely dances around the potential lying at its core.
Good acting can only travel a certain distance with limited material and while I am a huge fan of ‘less is more’ when it comes to dialogue, it is crucial then for dialogue to be concise and simultaneously loaded. Unfortunately, we get a limited view into what each of these band members has to bring to the table and therefore a limited understanding of their dynamics and potential as a group. To that effect, it is interesting to note that despite naming the film for the band, there is no account of how this appellation came to be so. Surely a superb opportunity for additional comedy, but also a juncture to allow each character a shot at christening the band based on their own idea of who they are individually and as a group. Possibly another formulaic trope to add to a ‘band’ film, but as the rest of the film does not shy away from tackling such clichés it is extremely surprising that such a prospect was not seized for the sake of fleshing out a very thin film.
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