There are meta-movies, and then there’s Alex Ross Perry’s “Pavements.” This biography of the iconic ‘90s alt-rock group Pavement cannot even contain its self-reflexivity and inventive ambition to just the medium of cinema. Perry builds a mammoth monument to his subject in place of the genre’s hoary cliches with this multi-disciplinary hybrid film.
“Pavements” clearly manifests the stamp of formal pioneer Robert Greene, who serves as both the film’s editor and producer. But the blended works of documentary and narrative that Greene helms himself, such as “Kate Plays Christine” and “Procession,” lead from a position of non-fiction. Perry approaches from the opposite angle and leans in more heavily from a fictional perspective.
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For the non-initiated who do need something akin to the Wikipedia page, the basic spine of the film does provide the relevant history and context needed to know who Pavement is. But Perry wisely understands what music biopics so often miss. Simply explaining who the subject is and what they made are but the table stakes of the genre. To justify taking an audience’s time, it’s necessary to explain why the subject matters.
For a heady and hyperliterate group like Pavement, only a multi-pronged metafictional approach like “Pavements” could do them justice. Alongside the traditional archival footage of Pavement’s ‘90s heyday and 2022 reunion, Perry stages three separate projects of breathtaking scale to explore how their influence rippled outward. There’s a winking museum exhibit “PAVEMENTS: 1933-2022,” a stage musical “Slanted! Enchanted! A Pavement Musical,” as well as a fake biopic within the biopic called “Range Life.” It’s a cinematic nesting doll in which the parts gloriously and intentionally do not fit.
Most thrillingly, “Pavements” feels unafraid to fail in any of these endeavors. Unlike the achievement culture that defines the experience of millennials and beyond, the greatest fear in the Generation X mindset that birthed and nurtured Pavement was selling out. The film operates along such an axis of judgment, and Perry pulls out all the stops to ensure the band gets a properly postmodern exploration of their existence and legacy.
Most thrillingly, “Pavements” feels unafraid to fail in any of these endeavors. Unlike the achievement culture that defines the experience of millennials and beyond, the greatest fear in the Generation X mindset that birthed and nurtured Pavement was selling out. The film operates along such an axis of judgment, and Perry pulls out all the stops to ensure the band gets a properly postmodern exploration of their existence and legacy.
In each of the three sections, the filmmaker’s fearless collaborators are game to keep pushing the boundaries of the work. While the edit does not devote a ton of attention to the stage musical, performers like Kathryn Gallagher and Zoe Lister-Jones give their all to exploring the seemingly contradictory impulse of doing a jukebox musical of hard-edged songs in such a heartfelt medium. And though the museum might seem straightforward, there’s a slyness to its construction that sneaks up as the film spends more time exploring it.
But the most committed participant is easily Joe Keery as the would-be Stephen Malkmus of the “Range Life.” In a self-aware critique of biopic acting, he delivers a performance that burlesques the bombast of Rami Malek and Austin Butler. While other cast members like Nat Wolff, Logan Miller, and Fred Hechinger are all delightful in their incarnations of the band, Keery is particularly ruthless in his self-lacerating commitment. Perry gives special attention to documenting his journey from researching his character to suggesting he needs to perform an “exorcism of Stephen Malkmus” to avoid carrying him into other roles.
But even as he chews the scenery in scenes so artificial that they bear a “For Your Consideration” screener watermark, Keery cannot escape the impulse to want this somewhat silly endeavor to succeed. Like Perry and Pavement, he possesses the wise understanding that irony and sincerity are not two opposite extremes but rather two sides of the same coin. Earnestness might be embarrassing to these slacker rockers, but it’s endemic to any kind of tribute like this. Perry embraces the sensation rather than fighting it, which gives the film a glow of honesty instead of lazy hagiography.
Rather than just trying to mimic the mastery of the band, “Pavements” finds exciting new avenues to understand the group befitting their evolution and adaptation over time. It’s refreshingly open to additional permutations, just as the band leaned into “Harness Your Hopes,” their previously unheralded B-side which took off as a TikTok trend in 2020. This is not a film that settles for telling you how great its subject is. Perry goes beyond even showing it, too. “Pavements” proves and embodies the brilliance of an iconic band. It’s a true testament to their enduring power that their creative genius serves as an inspiration not just to imitate but also to iterate. [B+]
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