Not Fade Away

The film opens with a recreation of the famous meeting of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards on the Dartford train as they discuss a mutual interest in American blues. The scene then changes to 1960s suburban New Jersey where we witness the start of another, virtually unknown band as two friends admire a guitar and drum set in a store front window, and we join them on their rickety road to break into the music industry. Not Fade Away is a love letter to rock 'n' roll by David Chase in his debut film as a feature film director following the remarkable run of The Sopranos. Here he he dips into that well again in what is probably a semi-autobiographical story, and frankly cuts too close to the series to keep you in the film. To make matters worse, Chase does so with a young, smarmy, and unlikable cast and concludes with a pretty putrid ending. It does feature a nice role for James Gandolfini, playing close to his famous TV persona, in what amounts to a touching sendoff