Over the past couple of years I have read quite a lot about Murray Foster and the Cocksure Lads band, music, movie and now stage production but had never seen the movie due to where I live. Finally, the Cocksure Lads movie was released internationally and legally available online in Australia and I was able to buy a copy. And I loved it.
The Cocksure Lads movie is about a group of naive and ambitious English musicians who go to Canada, have a fight over contributions and royalties and decide to go their separate ways putting their gig at night at risk. The movie follows their individual adventures around the streets of Toronto from drinking in bars, fighting, chasing girls and discovering what it means to be in band and playing music for a living. The movie is supported by a nice collection of 1960's British pop like music. There are some guest appearances by Alan Doyle, Kendel Carson and Walk Off The Earth.
Prior to writing this post I read some mixed reviews from newspapers and online media sites attached to the Cocksure Lads IMDb site. The reviews identified both some positive and negative aspects of the movie. I was interested what these reviews mostly by male reviewers thought about how women both musicians and fans were presented. None of the reviews touched on this issue except for one viewer.
While it would be easy to make a movie that romanticises music and male musicians and portrays modern female north American music fans in a politically correct way the movie challenges this. The writer and director Murray Foster writes about something he knows a lot about as he was a member of a number of music bands from an early age and that is what it means to be in a band, staying true to your creative callings and female music fans.
The movie in my opinion treated female music fans from a range of diverse backgrounds in a rather negative than positive light. The reality is that there are female fans who are extremely idealistic about music and playing music. There are those female fans willing to chase and engage with musicians for purely sexual reasons, those female fans who are only interested in musicians because they play in a band and there are those female fans with obsessive tendencies about particular music groups.
I have a couple of criticisms of this movie and one is that Murray Foster himself didn't make a guest appearance. The character of Monty the long suffering roadie, stage hand and one time musician wasn't explored making the connection between the current band and it's history and connecton with British pop music. I was also not fond of the clip with the nurses in sexy uniforms which I thought was unnecessary. Although I am not a fan of bad language I am not really offended by the 'w' word as much as I am by the 'f' word which did not appear.
Prior to writing this post I read some professional reviews about the movie from the IBMD site. I have copied a few quotes from those reviews here. I have also circulated a copy of the official Cocksure Lads movie trailer. As always no copyright infringement intended.
'Cocksure Lads Bring the Funk' by Cinemablographer Pat Mullen.
"...The Cocksure Lads offers a different set for musical comedy as the bandmates take their own separate paths, roam the streets of Toronto, and ponder the future of The Cocksure Lads. The film features a variety of performances and songs with a range of catchy musical numbers. Some sets take the form of conventional band performances, songs flow logically with the rock band storyline as The Cocksure Lads rehearse and get pumped up for the gig that may or may not happen, while other numbers take a more escape approach with sexy nurses joining the party as, say, one Lad bursts into song at The Beach. Animated cutouts bring to life numbers about mushy peas and spam, and the humour mostly lives in the lyrics and tongue-in-cheek energy with which the bandmates perform the songs. The Cocksure Lads plays like the Spinal Tap of the Canadian indie film scene with a dash of lo-fi funk..."
'Canadian Film Fest 2015: The Cocksure Lads Movie.' by Sean Kelly 25 March, 2105
"...The Cocksure Lads Movie is a musical comedy directed by Murray Foster, who is a member of the real band the film is based on. The Cocksure Lads are a Britpop band, who seem like they came straight out of the 1960s. A good comparison to this movie would be Flight of the Conchords, particularly through the use of multiple music video-style song performances throughout the film. Each of the band members get sing at least once song each, most of which have some pretty ridiculous lyrics. The film as a whole is an ode to the love of music and how achieving fame isn’t always the greatest aspiration.
Much of the plot of the film involves the band members going on their own separate ways and interacting with various individuals, including indie rocker Chloe (Chelsea Leaman), Coldplay loving Lily (Laura Vincent), groupie med student Jennifer (Laura Tremblay), and promiscuous Lucy (Sophia Fabiilli). The film also features cameos from Great Big Sea’s Alan Doyle and CBC’s Matt Galloway. While much of the film is pretty enjoyable, one aspect that doesn’t really work is the inclusion of two Brit-hating numbskulls, who are only there to give the film antagonists. Altogether, The Cocksure Lads is a fun musical comedy."
Much of the plot of the film involves the band members going on their own separate ways and interacting with various individuals, including indie rocker Chloe (Chelsea Leaman), Coldplay loving Lily (Laura Vincent), groupie med student Jennifer (Laura Tremblay), and promiscuous Lucy (Sophia Fabiilli). The film also features cameos from Great Big Sea’s Alan Doyle and CBC’s Matt Galloway. While much of the film is pretty enjoyable, one aspect that doesn’t really work is the inclusion of two Brit-hating numbskulls, who are only there to give the film antagonists. Altogether, The Cocksure Lads is a fun musical comedy."
