The great rock n roll superstar Bené works through his grief in this wild display of talent and retro-innovation, or retrovation, to invent a word. Bennet Jones' first film is one of my favorites this year.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
The title could lead one to expect a film about a viscous killer, but it's actually the most hilarious rock and roll comedy I've seen since THIS IS SPINAL TAP. The main character is Bené, an international rock star who goes into hiding after a fatwa is declared for him via the FatwaList.com website. Bené thinks the fatwa is likely the result of his song "Religion is Stupid, Especially Yours", but others suspect a connection to his girlfriend's recent death at the hands of a suicide bomber. Ooooh. Damn! What a bummer. After taking a very sobering moment for reflection, the film shatters the doom and gloom as Bené illogically tells us that his first thought at the time of her death was "I will kill that suicide bomber!"
Holing up in a cheap apartment with his friend "Beefy", most of the absurd action of this film takes place as the two chat and spin tales while they wait for Bené's expected assassin to appear. We learn from them that grief is like a spiral notebook with lots of subject dividers in it, like "Why did she die?", "Why did she die so young", "Why did she die so horribly?... and, oh, yes... also "Math". We also learn that people should seriously consider getting Pants Insurance in case there's a party in their pants and someone gets drunk and breaks a glass or something. And, of course, there are also several ridiculous songs in the film with lyrics such as:
What are the odds that the rain won't hit you?
They're pretty good if you stay inside.
Or if you're dead and buried underground.
But is it worth it to die
Just to stay dry?
It sounds stupid as I write this, but it's handled with comic brilliance, yet - underneath it all, there's also heart. Ultimately, this is a film about love, loss and how one copes.
