User Reviews

Much like the LA band Sparks, Aluminum Group are the perfect example of a band that really has IT – the "IT" being a solid back catalogue of infectiously catchy pop tunes with smokey, chocolate harmonies cut with a biting wit, live chops, and a significant international appeal ("They're huge in Japan" as Cynthia Plaster Caster guilelessly contends). The only problem is that the music business has no time for them. These are gay guys in their 40s writing songs about Marcel Duchamp, Sharon Tate, and hooking up with tattooed love boys while perusing second hand Erte…not exactly the stuff of America's Top Ten. Hence the goal of Patrick McGuinn's "Pursuit of Happiness" is to show the world the greatness they've been missing out on.

Patrick McGuinn's "Pursuit of Happiness" does a fantastic job at uncovering and following one of the best and sadly unheard American bands around. Armed with only their iPods, rich harmonies, and tons of style (due in part to gorgeous suits donated by fan Miucia Prada), the film documents Frankie and Johnny's tour of Italy in support of their exemplary "Happyness" albums 1 and 2.

Eschewing VH1 rockumentary conventions, McGuinn's film veers seamlessly through interviews, videos, and live footage that has been unseen by most American fans. The Navins' smoke filled car is tourbus and rehearsal studio all in one. The Navins come across in the interviews as very cool guys, untroubled by the lack of commercial attention.

My criticisms of the film are few. The fans who go on about how great AG is are not exactly house-hold names. Just like having Patti Smith featured in the brilliant documentary "Benjamin Smoke" brought flocks of her fans to view a film that might have gone largely ignored, including testimonials from more popular musicians like Stephen Merritt of Magnetic Fields, or producer Jim O'Rourke, or The Sea and Cake and so on could bring the film and of course the Aluminum Group to a much wider audience. As soon as you include names like these in a film, any Google searches for those names will produce connections from those names to the Aluminum Group. Instant Marketing for the film and AG! Further, the iPod tour was a great stunt, but John and Frank are pure magic when they harmonize over live instruments. It would have been a good idea to feature some of that, lest they be accused of being merely a karaoke novelty act.

Personal gripes aside, if you're a fan of the Aluminum Group, it's a must see!

It is almost unbelievable that a band like The Aluminum Group are not more well known within post-rock and indie circles. Working in the Chicago scene with luminaries such as John McEntire, Jim O'Rourke (who appears in the film), Rob Mazurek, Archer Prewitt and Edith Frost, one would have thought the Navin brothers would be massive!

The film, for the most part, follows John and Frank Navin as they tour around Italy. We see them performing with their iPod backing track, visiting youth clubs and beautiful churches, rehearsing in the car (a real treat) and meeting fashionable Italian types. The pretty tour diary elements are interspersed with interviews - the ones with the Navins are brilliant and offer a fascinating peek into their world and musical origins. Contributions by the group's friends I found less interesting - why present a bunch of people (even if they are Cynthia Plaster Caster) over-egging the gay pudding when the music speaks for itself?

I loved all the videos, especially the really early stuff (what a riot!), and footage of the musicians working in the studio and performing. I've pretty much given up hope of ever seeing The Aluminum Group live so this film is a nice replacement of sorts.

Aluminum Group fans will obviously want to see this film but anyone who's into the Chicago post scene should check it out too. I mean, they practically invented The Sea And Cake's entire schtick!