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7 SONGS Rating:  (out of 5 stars)Director: Noah Stern Producers: Mark Ambrose, Stephanie Bell Writer: Noah Stern Director of Photography: Kristian Bernier Cast: Chris Eigeman, Lola Glaudini, Terry Camilleri, Chaka Forman Visit the IMDB page for full cast and crew |
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Review by: Warren
Curry
4/13/03
What one usually most looks forward to when attending small film festivals is the chance to discover some fantastic movie that you, otherwise, would never have the opportunity to see. Noah Stern's 7 Songs is not that film. Featuring Whit Stillman regular Chris Eigeman (Barcelona, The Last Days of Disco), Stern's hollow film focuses on a pop musician named Micah (Eigeman), who is in the midst of the proverbial artist vs. corporation power struggle. Shot on video and edited using every Final Cut Pro trick at the filmmakers' disposal, 7 Songs has the appearance of a student film gone wrong. Really, the only redeeming element of this film is a few of the great songs composed by ex-Smashing Pumpkins keyboardist Chris Holmes. But I'd rather just listen to those on a soundtrack without the visual accompaniment.
Described by the filmmakers as something of a musical, the film's story is not so dissimilar to countless other movies which focus on the lives of musicians. Micah is a hedonistic recording artist who's working on a new album, but can't quite find the focus to finish it. The power-mad head of his record label (Chaka Forman) waits impatiently for Micah to wrap up his work in the studio, but it becomes apparent that the man has other priorities. The most important of them is to be a better parent to his daughter, Molly (Scout Taylor-Compton). So, Micah heads off with his manager/ex-model girlfriend, Josie (Lola Glaudini), and his personal chauffeur/right hand man, Kato (Terry Camilleri), to take care of a few PR tasks and in the process learns how to complete his album and also maintain his integrity.
Aside from the music, there's nothing remotely interesting about this film. Even with the editing gimmicks, the visual scheme is bland enough to draw comparisons to home movies. Eigeman, whose smarmy, nerdy personality (not just here, but in all of his performances) makes it seem like he could be Jason Lee's intellectual, older brother, doesn't bring much of anything to a completely run-of-the-mill, unlikable character. He spits out his pompous cynicism in a way that's devoid of any hint of charm. It's ironic that this film would appear in a festival honoring the art of acting, because Chaka Forman's performance as the evil record company suit is about as over-the-top and absurd as they come. The other characters are literally along for the ride.
The construction of this film is very thin, basically centered on getting from one grand musical moment to the next, and watching Eigeman tepidly mimic the songs' performances leaves a whole lot to be desired. Stern shows a bit more ability as a writer than a director, coming up with a few clever scenes, but his quest to make this film a musical comes off as a half-hearted and floundering attempt. I'm not sure if he was a friend of Chris Holmes' prior to the production of this movie, because it almost seems as if 7 Songs was made solely for the purpose of giving the musician a forum to show off his songwriting skills. And if that's what a film translates as its only purpose, you know something's wrong.
Perhaps the soundtrack can be released
without the film?
(Screened at the 2003 Method Fest.)
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