Two of my favorite films from 2014 were The Lego Movie and Frank.
The Lego Movie is a big budget, CGI family spectacle about the characters inside the world of Lego toys fighting their evil ruler who plans to enslave them all by coating them with Krazy Glue ensuring they stay in perfect arrangement forever.
Frank is a British indie about a young, frustrated keyboardist who, by accident, joins an avant-garde rock combo led by Frank , the genius frontman who wears a giant cartoon head he refuses to take off.
The Lego Movie explores this theme by setting up a world where everyone follows instructions. There are instructions for eating, sleeping, bathing, driving, parking, building and even making friends, all performed to the Lego world’s theme, the unbelievably catchy Everything is Awesome by Tegan and Sara.
Rebelling against this unholy order are the “builders,” people who refuse to follow the instructions and use whatever parts they can get their hands on to construct amazing devices. (Devices that often come in handy when battling the minions of President Business, the evil ruler of Lego Land who intends to freeze everything in a state of perfection.)
It’s a pretty simple conflict, rule followers VS creative improvisation. The film explores this theme, then expand on it in a surprising mid-point twist that introduces Will Ferrel in one of his best non-manic roles yet.
It’s an interesting take on where art comes from. Does it come from skillfully following instructions, ensuring that every piece is in exactly the “right” place, or does it come from inspiration and the heart? Inspiration and the heart seem to be the order of the day, and the film is a triumph of artistic chaos over order. Which is a great lesson. (Plus the Green Lantern bashing along the way is priceless.)
The Lego Movie teaches us that real creativity is risky and doesn’t really give a crap about the rules, which is odd coming from a film that follows classical narrative screen structure so closely. Just saying. But I still love it.
A chance encounter with a man trying to drown himself leads to an offer to play keyboards with The Soronprfbs, a truly out there rock band fronted by Frank, the lead singer and driving creative force who refuses to take off the giant, cartoon head he wears.
Jon is soon asked to join the band for the recording of their new album and along the way, tries to use the experience and his growing friendship with Frank to push himself to new creative heights and become the songwriter he dreamed of being.
The trouble is, he can’t. While he saves the day by finding the money needed to finish the record (winning his way into Frank’s good graces) everything he comes up with is lame. Pap for the masses. Pop garbage. Unfortunately, his relationship with Frank slowly begins to corrupt the man’s real genius. Frank, for his part, loves what he does, but would also love it if someone would listen and appreciate him.
In many ways, Frank is kind of a downer, its softly upbeat climax is muted by the truly hard lesson Jon finally learns.
It asks impotant questions about creativity: does everyone have it, is it a muscle that can be developed, or is it just innate? Something that some people have and some don’t? Where does this mysterious inspiration come from, and what do you do if it’s just not coming?
Both great movies with interesting things to say about the creative process. So if anyone out there wants a great double feature…