Movie Snapshot: "Not Fade Away" Captures the Mood and Music of the 1960s

Writer/director David Chase (The Sopranos) takes viewers back to the 1960s with his latest effort, Not Fade Away, a coming of age story that centers around Douglas (John Magaro), whose musical talent leads to dreams of becoming a rock n' roll star. Douglas initially serves as drummer for his band, but eventually takes over lead vocals from Eugene (Jack Huston), who fronts the band, but is clearly not as talented or as driven as Douglas. As Douglas becomes more popular and successful, his ego becomes a problem, both within the band and at home. After spending a semester at college, Douglas decides he wants to pursue music full time. That, along with his burgeoning liberal sensibilities, causes friction between him and his father, Pat (the sublime James Gandolfini), who uses old school methods of parenting and has no problem loudly voicing his considerable and worldly opinions. Regardless, Douglas is undeterred and continues on his quest for stardom, which eventually takes him to California.

Not Fade Away is filled with the sights and sounds of the 1960s and  features songs from The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and James Brown. Pop culture references are also found in abundance, from footage of singer/entertainer Dean Martin to Rod Sterling, the creator of The Twilight Zone. David Chase is successful in recreating the time period and, to his credit, pays close attention to detail. In addition, he has assembled a talented cast and struck gold with the musically gifted John Magaro. His performance as Douglas is fully realized, as the character goes through a startling transformation from beginning to end.

However, I found the editing to be almost unacceptable. While the film is set some fifty years ago, the brevity of many scenes cater to the MTV generation and many are less than two minutes long. Perhaps Chase wanted to fully use the large cast and/or felt the need to include as many references as possible to the time period. Whatever the reasons, I found many of the short scenes to be pointless and annoying. The ending also left a lot to be desired, but David Chase has a way with controversial conclusions to his projects. Regardless, Not Fade Away is a solid, if sometimes maddening, effort.