When I was sixteen, my buddy and I went to an Iron Maiden concert on a school night. It was –dare I say- awesome. The best part of the show was not the band nor the volume nor the mosh pit nor the drunken/stoned sea of humanity that sucked us in like an undertow. It wasn’t even playing cards in my car afterwards while waiting for traffic to subside. The best part was the next day when I couldn’t hear a darn thing: “¿Qué, señora? Lo siento. No puedo escuchar.” Easiest school day I had that year.
Be careful what you wish for … y’know?
Blackgammon is a two-person band. They create an awful lot of noise for just two people; they’re quite the overachievers. Blackgammon is about to have a real bad day. You see, the drummer is going deaf. You think Iron Maiden is loud from the mosh pit? Imagine it from the drummer’s seat. Nightly.
Ruben (Riz Ahmed) and Lou (Olivia Cooke) –the talent- are not only bandmates, they’re mate-mates. They tour in an RV; they drive from town-to-town. They clearly aren’t making it yet … but they could be on the verge. They have a loyal following and they play multiple states. 50% of the band being unable to hear is a bit of a setback to say the least.
This film is the story of Ruben as he copes with deafness and the five stages of grief. Lou departs along with Act I leaving Ruben in a new world. It’s not just that Ruben has to figure out how to communicate as a deaf person, Ruben has to figure out who deaf Ruben is and what deaf Ruben cares about. The dyed-hair, overly tattooed rocker obviously never had to contemplate such questions before. Watching this film, you might be reminded of your 
first job – thrust into a situation you didn’t know where there (seemingly) existed nothing but rules and limitations. It is dangerously easy to empathize with Ruben. If you’ve never been there, congratulations on your White Privilege; I hope you wear it wisely.
For all that connection, the movie doesn’t move especially well. Too often, it seems caught in atmosphere and setting rather than anything goal oriented. I think a half hour could easily be trimmed from this film without losing any power. In fact, if not for a great performance by Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal is a very flat film.
Sound of Metal is honest and endearing, but it’s incredibly one-dimensional. There is precious little plot and every character exists solely to guide the lead. In other words, Sound of Metal is a movie entirely about the emotional development of its main character and nothing else. And while this is a noble goal, we know exactly what’s going to happen. I mean, eventually he will have to mature enough to accept going deaf, because there’s nowhere else for this film to go. So for all the power of heavy metal, there’s no lightning, there’s no roller-coaster, and you know the destination already. It’s like a train trip. Enjoy the scenery, cuz we don’t have much else to offer. But hey, we take you somewhere you wanted to be, so stop complaining.
Ruben put his wild on display
And rocked until his hearing gave way
We can rest assured
This might not have occurred
Had he been into Mel Tormé
Rated R, 120 Minutes
Director: Darius Marder
Writer: Darius Marder, Abraham Marder
Genre: Whatchagonnado?
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Humanists
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Dunno … sociopaths who despise deaf people, maybe
