After a decade of churning out divisive and frenetic dramedies such as Listen Up Phillip (2014) and Her Smell (2018), Alex Ross Perry shifted gears in the 2020s. From directing music videos for Soccer Mommy and Pavement to giving a theatrical release to kinetic concert film GHOST: Rite Here Rite Now (2024), Perry has been actively exploring all the possible intersections of film and music. With his latest film he curiously pushes this fascination further. Pavements is an irresistibly open-hearted love letter to his favourite band, a defining lo-fi staple of the US indie scene of the ’90s.
Pavements is a chaotically divided into three parts: an awkwardly earnest off-broadway musical about the band, a mockumentary about the faux production of a star-studded big-budget biopic and a more traditional nerdy behind-the-scenes interview recappimg the band’s trajectory. Each one of these contains a healthy amount of irony as well as a shocking level of dedication.
The pre-production and initial promotion of this documentary was full of oddly misleading hints towards a potential feature-length fiction biopic. Purposely spreading misinformation, Perry got websites like Vulture and Entertainment Weekly to take the bait. While the biopic is fake, part of Pavements is a bizarrely singular Christopher Guest-esque mockumentary about this fictional biopic and the ways the actors embrace Method acting when embodying the personas behind Pavement band members. Joe Keery is stellar in a meta-role, simultaneously playing himself struggling with mimicking the weirdo charm of Pavement lead singer, Stephen Malkmus. Think of the type of dry cringe comedy of a Tim Robinson sketch where Keery goes to a vocal coach after he can’t stop copying Malkmus’ severe Californian vocal fry. Unexpected cameos from Jason Schwartzmann, Tim Heidecker and Fred Hechinger help top ensure that the interrupting segments are never redundant.
Despite its many detours, there is a grounded through line of Ross Perry following Pavement around for a reunion tour. This section serves as the most conventional introduction to the titular band. By showing Malkmus’ growing hesitancy with rehearsing and performing, Ross Perry is able to go on a journey through the timeline of the band’s shocking stardom and eventual break-up. For those unaware of these pivotal moments in their career, this is needed as it reinforces the humour in the musical and faux-bio pic components. The approach is fragmented, and the way Ross Perry splices dry, informative timelines of the band with the self-aware banter is often jarring.
Finally, for the most outlandish of the three adventures of Pavements, Perry goes behind the curtains for the off-Broadway musical titled Slanted! Enchanted!, whihch he wrote and directed himself. For any follower of Pavement, this at its face seems ridiculous or, at the very least, a crude misunderstanding of the band’s charm. Within the film, the presentation of this musical leaves audiences wondering if the act itself is a spoof. Perry follows the different aspects of the play’s production from the dancers to the actors to the crew, all of which meet the play with the same amount of curious confusion.
Initially, the film’s insistence on showing the way Pavement’s music is a fish-out-of-water in the world of Broadway can be gimmicky. Eventually, Perry sheds the satire and begins to present the musical as the genuine emotional core of the film. Because of Ross Perry’s commitment to this musical as more than just a quirky joke, the final jukebox musical performance is admirably sentimental. Ross Perry clearly understands theatre and actors, and therefore, the interviews with Zoe Lister-Jones, Kathryn Gallagher, and Michael Esper, who have starring roles in the piece, are intimate and caring, further making the final payoff resonate with any audience member.
Pavements is often messy, partially because it’s directed through a lens of childlike fandom. At a two-hour runtime, it’s clear that Perry and his co-producer and editor, Robert Greene want to cram as much as possible in for better or worse. The film is shot with restless giddiness that often makes it overwhelming to those not tapped into the band’s mythos. Nevertheless, such a blatantly over-the-top and devoted passion project is an endearing experience. The exuberant experimentation pushes expectations of a music documentary in the way only an indie visionary like Ross Perry could.
Pavements is on various VoD platforms on Monday, July 28th.
