Not Fade Away

Despite the presence of James Gandolfini berating another punk son, and another Scorsese nick in its affinity for The Rolling Stones, David Chase's feature film debut Not Fade Away superficially has little to do with The Sopranos. It's a coming- of-age tale about a group of kids inspired by Mick Jagger and Co. to form a '60s garage band and work their way up to the East Village big leagues, growing out their Bob Dylan curls and donning Cuban heels along the way, and probably never getting mixed up with gangsters. And yet, there are some themes that should be familiar to Sopranos fans, like the idea that the family you create is just as important—if not more so—as the one you're given. Plus, at one point the drummer pulls out a gun and shoots everybody. Okay, not really. But still, for every would-be rock star who's ever longed to see the gigging grind reflected in a movie without added Hollywood sheen, Not Fade Away looks like the anti-That Thing You Do!, potentially doing for bands what The Sopranos did for movie mobsters.