Movie Review: Do It Again

Friday night is Date Night for Mrs. Realist and I, and I try to find something that is unusual and different for us to experience. Luckily, I have yet to stumble into a bizarre and dangerous situation like that of Steve Carrell and Tina Fey in their recent movie covering this domestic recreational practice, but sometimes I manage to come close. This Friday night, I managed to cross paths with the modern day Man of La Mancha (as dubbed by John Soeder of The Cleveland Plain Dealer) on a quixotic quest equal to that of Cervantes' classic hero.

Geoff Edgers, a writer for the Boston Globe, beset by the travails of working in journalism, became obsessed with the idea that he might inspire the original members of the Kinks to rejoin, even if for just one show. Filmed by Robert Patton-Spruill while simultaneously performing the Sancho Panza role, Do It Again manages to portray how fan fixation can lead to an obsessive quest to accomplish a great deed. Perhaps the great deed that Edgers achieves is to successfully take our minds off our own difficulties as we watch him torture himself with his.

Stewart Nusbaumer called Do It Again "a hilarious romp and clever distraction from a crumbling America and the middle class barbecue," and I have to agree. I found myself laughing a great deal, sometimes alone as if only I got the humor of the situation presented. But these solitary moments were far more rare than when the general tittering emitted as Edgers again fails to lance the tilted windmill that is the personification of lead Kink Ray Davies.

Yet generally one tends to laugh with Edgers as opposed to at him, for there are moments when his humanity peeks through despite the quest. One such is when his young daughter picks up the camera and asks her father what he's doing right now as if conducting her own interview. Another is when she demands a lobster dinner should he not succeed in bringing the Kinks back together. Now how can any good father refuse his daughter such a demand? He dutifully agrees, and I hope that I'm not spoiling any surprise when it later becomes necessary to deliver on this promise.

But this oddball Odyssey was not without certain successes, not when Edgers managed to spend a fair amount of time talking about the Kinks with the great producer Clive Davis, and he got to jam on Kinks songs with many famous artists such as Sting, Peter Buck of REM, Robyn Hitchcock, Zooey Deschanel, and brother Kink Dave Davies, who is especially wonderful to hear reminiscing despite his serious medical issues. In addition to Davies, Edgers managed to interview original Kinks Mick Avory and Peter Quaife, along with many of the Kast Off Kinks who are all former members of the band.

Article Author: Realist

You don't have to be Pessimist to become Realist - but it certainly helps!

Visit Realist's author page — Realist's Blog