Anna (Zoe Lister-Jones, who directs) and Ben (Adam Pilly) are a notoriously unhappy, constantly bickering couple on the verge of calling it quits. But after a therapy session, they decide to pick up some instruments and turn their fights into songs. Along the way, they're joined by their awkward neighbor (Fred Armison) on the drums, while they work through their grief and crank out some jams.
It's clear from the opening's epic showdown that this is a film that runs on snippy back-and-forth dialogue. It piles on the zingers, running the gamut between caustic, clever, and annoying. For a while, the film maladroitly stumbles along like a Duplass-lite dramedy without the messily endearing characters. In fact, Anna and Ben are both a bit on the bland side, and frankly, they're sort of insufferable most of the time (no wonder why they're always arguing with each other!).
But to my surprise, Anna and Ben began to grow on me. As did the film, especially toward the second half when the comedy hits harder and bits of affecting emotion ring in. And you know what? The songs they come up with are actually kinda good. Raw indie-rock with some catchy hooks. Like, can I purchase an album by The Dirty Dishes somewhere (that's their band name)?
Band Aid still can't escape some of its own obnoxiousness, but it ends up transforming into a decent tune.
(7/10)
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