ADVENTURES OF POWER Review

Writer/director Ari Gold also stars as the title character Power in this underdog/rock n' roll/road comedy. The story is as simple as it's protagonist: Power is a full-on loser, who works at the local energy plant with his gruff union leader dad Harlan (Michael McKean) and lives in a tent on the front lawn of his eccentric hippy aunt  Joni (Jane Lynch) while persuing his dream of being a respected "air drummer". You see, Power never got to have a real drum set growing up, so he has done the next best thing, he's learned to mimic his heroes in the empty space in front of his face.
After a mishap at work, when Power accidentally pulls a lever and covers one of the big bosses in raw oil while getting his groove on, he is given his walking papers. This happens right before his dear old dad has planned a walk-out with the workers in order to get better wages. This is the final let down for Powers' dear old pop. That night Power thinks he can redeam himself in the eyes of his disapproving father by winning the local talent contest being held at his Aunt Joni's bar. Making a mockery of himself, Power decides to hit the road, on his 12 year old best friends child sized bicycle, and make his way to Mexico for a clandestine air-drum competition that reeks of danger, but may hold promise for Powers' destiny. AFter almost getting caught in a police sweep, Power makes his way to the Big City, still in persuit of his dream and credibility.
He ends up living in a Chinese take out restaurants back room, after being rescued from a mugging by the owners, and dating the deaf girl who works there, Annie (WEEDS' Shoshannah Stern) despite Annie's disapproving mother. But Annie falls in love with Power, and supports his dream. Power joins up with legendary a air drum instructor and his troupe of protege's, Power proves to be a limitless talent. They set to prepare to win the big air drum off with only a couple of weeks to prep their big contender, Power.
Meanwhile, pop-punk/country hybrid music star Dallas Houston (ENTOURAGE's Adrian Grenier) is raking up zillions of dollars on the charts, under the management of his rich oil baron daddy, but his heart is in air drumming as well. And his embarrased fatherbe damned, he's going to follow his heart and join the competition.

Ugh.

If the above sounds tedious and worn, trust me, it is. With the cast of "zany" characters, and sub-plots about a union strike and Annie's mothers past that go nowhere, I was wishing I had a sink full of dirty dishes needing washing before I even hit the halfway mark of this movie. First, the character of Power is so pathetic there's nothing to like. It's like a more obnoxious, older, and rocked out version of Napolean Dynamite. There is nothing the character rises against that isn't of his own making by his own dimwitted behavior. Like when Power gets fired for screwing up at work, it's totally his own fault. He deserves to get fired. He deserves everything bad that happens to him because he's such a gonad. Then, the talents of Chris Guest stalwarts Michael McKean and Jane Lynch are completely wasted with characters that go nowhere, and exhibit fewer interesting traits than a stack of wet cardboard.
Then, the air drumming itself? Yeah, it's a ridiculous and ham fisted ronic and absurd concept, but at least teach the actors to really nail the music they're mimicking. Make us go "Well damn, that looked dead on!" so we have an iota of appreciation for the entire point and subject of the film, as silly as it may be. Make us believe.
On top of all that, and I'm remiss to really say this but here goes, the film is full of minor characters of different ethnicities. But the way they are used to invoke laughs is damn close to being racist. Cheap shots at stereotypes abound, as it's not what the characters say that is supposedly funny, but how they say it. It comes from the "Har har! They talk funny!"  school of humor. Cheap, antiquaited, and plain old offensive at times. The Chinese restaurant owners characters, I'm surprised they didn't own a laundromat so they could deliver golden comedic lines like "No tickey no washey!"  Then there's the recurring Mexican character who is fond of saying "You my freeeeiiind" in some kind of half baked play on Rob Scneider's "You can do it!" guy. Then there's the east Indian air drummer. And the Black Dude air drummer. Etc etc. All overblown cartoon versions of racial stereotypes. Wow. Just. Wow.

Double ugh.

Of course this all builds up to the "big climax, the air drum off competition. And of course it comes down to being between Power and Dallas Houston, whose popularity and celebrity almost ensure he is the winner. But Power rallies, when his show stopper RUSH's "Tom Sawyer" turns out to be the final competition piece. Of course this leads to an underdog victory (trust me I'm not spoiling anything here) and a face to face meeting Powers' hero, RUSH drummer Neil Peart.

Triple ugh.

How the production got the rights to use "Tom Sawyer" and roped the notoriously curmudgeonly Neil Peart into a cameo is beyond me. But more, er, power to them for it. Produced as an independent feature, ADVENTURES OF POWER struggles (and actually succeeds for once) at looking slicker than it should. It seems like it wants to be a hybrid of NAPOLEAN DYNAMITE and SCHOOL OF ROCK, or at least fall firmly into the category, as stated earlier, of underdog/rock n' roll/road comedy that leaves the audience shaking their heads, laughing, and feeling good as they walk out of the theater. ADVENTURES OF POWER is full of unlikable characters that deserve no sympathy, and tropes that go so far beyond cliche it had me wanting to rip my own eyes out. I usually at least have dumb fun with these types of movies, but this was so bad, and such an empty void creatively, that I have had trouble even finding something to review. Going to see the dentist for an impromtu root canal sans anesthesia would have brought me more pleasure than watching this lobotomizing cinematic fart. It's got me rethinking my hatred for Rob Zombie's films. They might not be the worst thing I've ever seen after all.