"We are here to save the world from what rock and roll has become."  -Nate Hayden

Take a broken down VW minibus, a beaten up drum kit, an old bass guitar, and a portable generator.  And two energetic youths. Mix.  What do you get?  The almost unbelievable musical group Friends Forever.

Drummer Nate Hayden and Bassist Josh Taylor are not into music for the drugs or the sex or the fame and fortune.  They are in it for their love of music.  They are also on a mission to bring rock music back to the people.  This duo (along with Jenn who does the lighting and their three dogs) travel the country spreading their music, but they don't play inside clubs, they set up out on the street and jam.  The van is their stage, transportation and house.  Wherever there is an empty parking space, they will give a concert.  No audience is too small, and no distance is too far to travel.  They journey from their home in Denver, Colorado to New York City to play one 15 minute gig.

Friends Forever is also the name of Ben Wolfinsohn's documentary about this unique musical duo.   Traveling with the band across the USA, Wolfinsohn films these unusual individuals from small show to smaller show, from LA to New York City.  You get to see what drives them and why they do what they do.

No one will ever accuse the group Friends Forever of being musically talented.  They can't really carry a tune, and can barely play their instruments, but they do put on a show.  With fog and strobe lights, Nate plays his drums inside the van, while Josh runs around the parking lot playing his bass.  Josh will come out wearing a wolf head, or a jacket covered with illuminated light bulbs.  He'll get on the roof of the van and set off fire works, all while playing something that resembles a tune.  Their music is very much punk rock inspired and comes across as long jam sessions rather than individual songs.

Nate and Josh may seem like naive slackers who are avoiding life at first, but as the movie progresses, you come to realize how hard they work for such little return.  The little money they make is from selling T-Shirts ($5) and tapes ($3) after their shows.  They even feel bad about charging for these, thinking that anyone who enjoys the show should have a tape.

The film is does a good job of capturing these guys and their insane idea.  It shows their creative spirit and do-it-yourself attitude, and the price that they pay for following their dream.  It is filmed in a rough style that fits in with the music.  It would have been nice to have heard a complete song, though, something the movie lacks.  A very good first feature from Ben Wolfinsohn.

The audio quality on the stereo track varies.  Some of it is very good, but much of it has background noise due to the way it was filmed.  Due to the nature of the subject the noise isn't distracting, it just fits in.  The music that the group plays is loud and noisy, so it does not really suffer from the less than perfect recording conditions.

There are no subtitles available.

Video:

Being a documentary, this movie was not filmed under ideal conditions.  Like the audio, the quality of the picture varies greatly throughout the film.  A few scenes are very clear and bright, but much of the movie is shot outside at night with improper lighting.  These scenes are grainy and there is not much detail.  It appears that the movie was shot in different formats, because some sections have a lot of digital artifacts, and in other parts there are dropouts associated with videotape.   While the video quality leaves a lot to be desired for most of this film, it does seem to fit the DIY philosophy that the band embraces.

This movie is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1.

The Extras:

Deleted Scenes:  Nine short deleted scenes.  Nothing that should have been left in the film, but interesting to watch.  (With the exception of the "vomit party" scene.  I could have done without that.)

Where Are They Now?  A text feature that gives updates and video clips on Friends Forever and some of their associates.  The most interesting clip was a 10 minute magic show that Friends Forever put on in Los Angeles.  There is also a 4 minute audio clip of a self help tape that Jenn has put out, and a 9 minute "making of" short chronicling Costume Dave's 8mm science fiction movie that he is in the process of making.

Trailers: Six trailers for the film, all with different clips.
 
The one thing this DVD is lacking is music by Friends Forever.  It would have been nice have an entire set available as an extra. I'm sure many were filmed.  Since they only play for 15 minutes, it would have fit on the disc.  As it is, there are only snips of their music in the film.  From what you do hear, I can see why the director didn't put more music in the film, but it seems natural to include it as an extra.

Final Thoughts:

Trying to change the musical landscape 5 or 10 people at a time is a crazy idea that can never succeed.  Josh and Nate seem to realize that, but that doesn't stop them from trying.  At times entertaining, often bewildering, Friends Forever has to be seen to be believed.  Since there's not a lot of music in the movie, you don't have to be a punk rock fan to enjoy it.  You just need a taste for the bizarre.  Recommended.