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Gigantic (A Tale Of Two Johns)

2003, Movie, NR, 102 mins

Gigantic (A Tale Of Two Johns): Review

GIGANTIC (A TALE OF TWO JOHNS)
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Fans of the geek-rock duo They Might Be Giants will no doubt be thrilled that director AJ Schnack found a home for so much footage in this loving but shapeless documentary about the surprisingly long-lived band. Neophytes and nonbelievers, however, may find themselves bored and confused about all the fuss. Taking their name from James Goldman's play about an endearingly delusional judge who fancies himself Sherlock Holmes, the quixotic TMBG are singer-songwriters John Flansburgh (guitar) and John Linnell (accordion). Childhood friends from Lincoln, Mass., they moved to Brooklyn in the wake of New York City's punk/new wave movement and began performing their quirky blend of performance pop at such early-'80s East Village venues as 8 B.C. and Darnika. Their willingness to experiment with emerging and unconventional media served them well — early on the Johns introduced the popular Dial-a-Song service; fans could call their answering machine and hear a new TMBG song every day — and the band produced a series of memorable videos for such songs as "Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head," "Birdhouse in Your Soul" and "Don't Let's Start." Heavy MTV rotation landed the Johns a major-label record deal; their adenoidal singing voices, faux-naif subject matter and intriguing combination of peppy tunes and downbeat lyrics ensured them a following among literate, predominantly college-aged fans that kept the band afloat long after their relationship with Elektra Records came to a bitter end. Schnack's enthusiastic film charts the unusual career of these unlikely rock stars (the bespectacled "Flans" is husky and gregarious; Linnell is rangy and shy) with a tons of live footage, an embarrassment of testimonials from famous long-time fans and dramatic readings of the band's lyrics by the likes of Janeane Garofalo and Harry Shearer. But despite Schnack's half-hearted attempt to divide the film into chapters, his film is too unstructured to hold the interest of non-fans who might have appreciated a somewhat less hagiographic approach. Schnack jumps from interviews to concerts to a visit with the members of the Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School debate team as they argue the meaning of the song "Particle Man," a self-consciously quirky aside that only reinforces the music's novelty-item aspect, something TMBG's fans are quick to deny. leave a comment --Ken Fox
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