When I first saw the trailer for the new film Mile End Kicks (written and directed by Chandler Levack), visions of Cameron Crowe’s glorious film Almost Famous flooded my mind and why not? The film’s about a young female music critic leaving home and heading to a big city to write a book. There’s even an Almost Famous poster hanging right next to her bed, the space that’s reserved for the most reverential works.
However, where Almost Famous was a top-notch exploration of the dynamic between a young boy dreaming of being a music critic, the tumultuous band he’s writing/traveling about and conflicted groupie Penny Lane, Mile End Kicks slants more towards a traditional rom-com with Gen-Z trappings.
In 2011, Grace Pine (Barbie Ferreira) is a 22-year-old music critic writing for Spin Magazine. She’s the only female critic at the magazine and that, combined with her young age, makes her an outcast within the writing crew, composed of men who are all in their post-30’s.
Recently becoming obsessed with Alanis Morissette’s 1995 album Jagged Little Pill, she decides to move to Montreal, Quebec to write a book on the album and Morissette. Once she arrives in the big city though, she realizes that there are far more challenging things in life than writing a book.
Grace is partially modeled on Director/Writer Chandler Levack’s life. Ms. Levack also wrote for Spin magazine and as Grace packs her stuff and heads to Montreal to work on the book that will take her to the next level in her career, the exuberance of the moment is infectious.
Every adult can remember when they first moved away from home, that heady mix of terror and excitement that came from breaking the shackles of childhood, and Barbie Ferreira does a great job capturing that feeling through her character.
I enjoyed the first half of the film, with Grace struggling to work on her book while trying to have a social life with her DJ roommate Madeleine (the ethereal Juliette Gariépy). The dynamic between the two women is lovely, with Madeleine drawing Grace out of her introverted shell while Grace introduces Madeleine to new kinds of music.
If the entire film had focused on the relationship between these two, the film would have been better for it, but alas, with this being a (straight-centered) romantic comedy, men are tossed into the mix. In this case, two members of the band Bone Patrol, lead singer Chevy (Stanley Simons) and lead guitarist Archie (Devon Bostick).
Chevy is the typical fake artistic type, one of those guys who thinks everything he says is brilliant poetry. He’s more Jack Tripper than Jack Kerouac, a guy who thinks he’s a deep ocean of mystery when he’s just a shallow dribbling creek. Grace falls for him though, which I suppose is understandable for a 22-year-old. Hell, when I was 22 I had a huge crush on Courtney Love when she was at her raging drugged-out peak, so who am I to criticize? When you’re young you’re easily seduced by anyone who gives the illusion of being cerebral or rebellious. Chevy’s aloof towards Grace, which predictably makes her want him more.
Archie, on the other hand, is the opposite of Chevy. He’s kind, gracious and totally captivated by Grace, so of course Grace quickly files him under “good friend”. And that’s pretty much where the second half of the film goes, with Chevy being apathetic, alternately rejecting and seducing Grace while Archie always shows up to give her emotional support.
It’s all a rehash of the things we’ve seen in dozens of other romantic comedies and that’s a shame, because when the movie focuses on Grace struggling with getting her book written, wrestling with bills and rent, or just exploring all the dive bars and parks in the city, that’s way more interesting than the usual “who will she end up with” stuff.
It’s an edgier version of the typical Hallmark Channel fare, more hopeless than hopelessly romantic.
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