Tag: Luke Wilson

Roadies: Season 1, Episode 4 – The C Word (Review)

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Roadies this week had no big names for guest stars, like Rainn Wilson in the previous episode although the musical guest was Jim James.  The plot in “The City Whose Name Must Not be Spoken” was a parallel one of angst and turmoil. Rick the bassist goes missing and Double D says the ‘C’ word on the bus  (Cincinnati).  In reality the ‘C’ word should have been “contrived.”

Since the band have been playing the older songs, as suggested by Kelly Ann, Rick has been on a downward spiral.  Increasing his booze intake and consuming more pharmaceuticals.  Milo is concerned but even though Rick is his band member to look after, he has not acted.

On a offshoot of the “Rick is missing” storyline, Bill and Shelli experience an adventure as they track the bassist down. Initially she is annoyed with Bill after he decides to hang with a groupie and not her. Later, however, the two get on the same page and have a few laughs.

Double D, aka Reg, walks onto Kelly Ann’s bus and says the ‘C’ word effectively cursing the entire tour.  Gooch then informs the crew members on the  bus that to break the curse they need to drive 100 miles in the wrong direction. There are also eggs and balloons to collect.

The entire group have their day off ruined by Rick’s disappearance and Reg invoking the curse on the tour.

Roadies is utilizing a real tragedy in their use of The Who 1979 Cincinnati concert disaster.   The “curse” seems to be the rock tour version of  the  theatre crowd’s “Scottish Play.” .  Although in this instance, the curse can be broken.

To counteract the curse, as well as the 100 mile journey, 11 eggs must be broken and 11 balloons released.  This all makes a certain amount of sense. The eggs equal the broken lives and the balloons, the souls released to heaven.

Unfortunately the whole thing feels like a contrived  excuse to get Kelly Ann and Double D together.   It also gave the show time to get Shelli and Bill on a magical mystery tour of their own looking for Rick.

However contrived the episode may feel, it had its fair share of comic moments.

Comic Moments:

Reg and Kelly Ann stealing eggs from an (apparently) dead person.

Shelli learning from Bill that “jazz” is a code word for swinging.

Reg’s dismay at “hot-bagging.”

Kelly Ann’s very English “Christ on a bike.”

The return of Natalie Shin.

Milo deciding he is dying after walking four minutes.

Bill and Shelli being chased out of the bakery by a baseball bat wielding shop owner.

Rafe Spall channeling his inner “Andy” from Hot Fuzz.

Phil, Reg and Bill:

“The City Whose Name Must Not be Spoken,” also featured the return of Phil. He is still on the Taylor Swift space tour and he solemnly informs Kelly Ann that “gravity helps you sh*t.”  Phil also relays the “rules” on how to break the curse.

In many ways the episode allows Reg to bond more with the crew.  More is learned about  Bill’s wild days with Rick and the show proves just how good the chemistry is between Gugino and Wilson.  There is also a great thing going on between Poots and Spall, their equally awkward  characters are slowly moving toward one another.  Each set of couples are in denial and this works.

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The Climax:

The eggs are broken and the balloons released after a suitable recitation about the 11 victims who died at the Cincinnati concert.  Kelly Ann tricks Milo into taking a shower in the rain. Rick is found in a waterbed with Natalie Shin and “Regg” is picked up by a car sent by Production Management at the bus.

A Note of Foreboding:

Earlier, when Kelly Ann has her Skype call with Phil he mentions that all the eggs need to be broken. That is a lesson, he says, that he learned on his first tour with Nine Inch Nails.  As bus starts to pull away, Kelly Ann notices, and the camera zooms in on,  a solitary unbroken egg.

Roadies airs Sundays on Showtime. Tune in and see if the curse has been lifted or if the tour is doomed.

MAIN CAST:

Guest Starring:  Jacqueline Byers as Natalie Shin, Luis Guzmán as Gooch, Ron White as Phil. 

Musical Guest: Jim James

Roadies: Episode 2 – What Would Phil Do? (Review)

Carla Gugino and Luke Wilson

Roadies continues this  week with everyone reeling from Phil’s sudden departure. Double D (Rafe Spall) fired him on the pilot episode and  “What Would Phil Do” sees the roadies banding together in their dislike of Reg, aka “Double D.” Bill (Luke Wilson) is undergoing Phil withdrawal and struggling to fill the void.

The opening act The Head and the Heart are pranking the roadies, emboldened (says Milo) by Phil’s absence.   Shelli (Carla Gugino) insists that Bill sort the opening act out. He does and they quit. He now needs to find a new opening band. 

Phil helps out from the Taylor Swift tour by bringing in the blues rock band Reignwolf. Kelly Ann (Imogen Poots) is regretting her decision to come back, although she did not make it out of the parking lot. 

Reg tells Bill that another person has to go to make the budget and Double D makes the remainder of the crew explain what they do. Donna (Keisha Castle-Hughes) is mighty with her diatribe about her first band crying when she left. She also hysterically baffles Reg with her “Even my girlfriend who can make me come without touching me, does not know what I do.’  Brilliant. 

After speaking with everyone the English financial expert is struggling to find someone to let go.

Kelly Ann is put in charge of the teleprompter, much to her disgust, and she has to speak with Christopher (Tanc Sade)  about what songs to include. He offers her a raisin and she declines after doing into a long winded explanation as why she does not like them. Chris decides she is speaking metaphorically bout Reg and believes Kelly Ann has suggested he be fired. The singer moves to terminate Double D.

There is pressure to get rid of the “kiss-finger” gesture by Preston and this causes Bill even more anxiety, over and above the morning circle issue.

(Although Preston is not listed on the credits so far, he looks  like Dream On star Brian Benben. If anyone can verify this please do so down in the comments.  Brian was a personal favorite back in the day when “Dromen,” as the series was called in Holland, starred in the quirky show.)

Bill’s growing pains slowly abate, after a health scare, and he begins to  settle into becoming the new “Phil.”  Reg manages to save his job and blames Kelly Ann who explains that she really was talking about raisins and not him.  The financial expert is disappointed in their lack of friendship but he does tell Kelly Ann that he had the WWPD t-shirts made to bring the crew closer together.

Reignwolf step in and do so well  in rehearsal that Bill welcomes them to the tour. He then learns that they are only there for the night. Reg forces Milo (Peter Cambor) to drop his faux English accent and manages to meet the budget  without firing anyone else. 

Roadies is entertaining even though the second episode lacked the fire and the pace of the season one opener.  With the loss of Phil (Ron White) and the lack of stalker Natalie Shin (Jacqueline Byers) “What Would Phil Do?” makes for a less exciting installment. 

Regardless of the more relaxed pace and lack of pathos the show focusses on Kelly Ann and Reg with a peripheral interest in Shelli and Bill, as potential couple.  There are some things that are puzzling though.  Such as why Double D spurns all human touch for example.

With a slight drop in popularity the show will need to pull out all stops. While the music is a plus as is the use of real bands as the opening  acts, the pace really needs to  pick up.  The writing is clever and funny however and this will help somewhat.

Roadies airs Sundays on Showtime. Tune in and see what you think.

Roadies: Showtime – Rock & Roll, Sex and Firecrackers (Review)

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Written and directed by show creator Cameron Crowe “Roadies” with its pilot episode has a  polished big screen feel to it, as well it should. Crowe has written a number of feature films, including “Almost Famous” and “Jerry McGuire.”  This new  television series about the backstage goings-on of fictional band Staton-House is sharp snappy and looks brilliant. It is all about sex, rock and roll and firecrackers and features no drugs at all, so far. 

Kelly Ann (Imogen Poots) has a partial scholarship to a New York film school and is planning to leave the group. Luke Wilson is Bill, the tour manager who has a taste for the younger ladies and has history with Shelli (Carla Gugino) the production manager. These two, despite the teen sex, feel more married than most married couples do. 

Phil (Ron White) is a pistol packing member of the roadie’s who is paid to keep everything running smooth-ish and make everyone feel good.  Rafe Spall is Reg Whitehead, the English hatchet man sent in by management to cut corners and lop off the fat. 

At the start of “Roadies” in “Life is a Carnival”  Bill is having sex with the 22 year old daughter of the promoter.  Shelli declares the young woman a teenager and the  coitus at the beginning causes all sorts of problems.

There is a stalker, Natalie Shin (Played with a delightful goofy madness by Jacqueline Byers.) who sneaks into the venue when Kelly Ann’s brother Wesley (Machine Gun Kelly) comes to cry on her shoulder. Wes has been fired from Pearl Jam by Mike McCready himself. 

At this juncture there is a need to address the soundtrack, not only is it spot on in terms of adding ambiance to a scene it matches the action perfectly. A case in point is the entrance of Natalie Shin, who shoves her foot in the door that Wesley has just opened, and waltzes in unnoticed by the backstage technicians.

The music that accompanies her journey, which includes manically shagging one of the backstage crew for his laminate is “Get Free” by Major Lazer.   The music is a perfect fit for the obviously free spirit of Shin who also has little to no inhibitions in terms of getting what she wants.

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Rafe Spall as Reg Whitehead in Roadies

There are, however, some things that do not count as top notch storytelling. We know, for instance, just how Kelly Ann’s dilemma will resolve itself.  On the same side of this irritant is the fact that she and Spall’s character Reg are obviously meant to be an item. Add to this the clear love triangle that will develop with faux Brit Milo (Peter Cambor) and it all  becomes a little too predictable.

The end of the first episode was also signposted early on but to keep from entering spoiler territory it will remain a mystery for now.  But trust us, you will pick it out from the moment it is mentioned.

Just as the clear attraction that exists between Bill and Shelli, who apparently have a past, is also a bit annoying. The main difference here is that the two already function as a sort of man and wife facsimile. Appointing nannies to look after the lead singer’s child adds to this illusion.

There are quirky characters and a mutual love of the band that they, the roadies, support.  The implication being that one does not tech for a band that one does not adore.  It is, according to show creator Crowe, the ultimate fanboy or fangirl job.

“Roadies” comes with a great cast and Crowe does a capable job directing the pilot episode. The combination of soundtrack, interesting characters and great acting fills in many blanks and makes for an entertaining open.

Stand-up comic Ron White as Phill is all OTT attitude and “good ole boy” charm.  His portrayal is brilliant right down to his “heartfelt” advice to Kelly Ann where he calls her by the wrong name partway through.  So too is his melt down when confronted by Reg Whitehead.

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Ron White as Phil and Imogen Poots as Kelly Ann

Rafe Spall is, as always, a pleasure to see in anything.  A more than capable actor, Rafe can do it all, comedy, drama and American television.  The son of Timothy Spall, who worked in all three of the “Cornetto” films is proving that the acorn does not fall far from the tree at all.

“Roadies” is a fun show to watch and the quality of the cast makes it all the more enjoyable. Airing Sundays (starting June 26) on Showtime this will quickly become  favorite so rock on.