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Critics Consensus: Funny, clever, and endearingly unusual, Frank transcends its quirky trappings with a heartfelt -- and surprisingly thought-provoking -- story.
Critic Consensus: Funny, clever, and endearingly unusual, Frank transcends its quirky trappings with a heartfelt -- and surprisingly thought-provoking -- story.
All Critics (159) | Top Critics (32) | Fresh (146) | Rotten (13)
Beneath those puppet-headed antics, and true to its title, Frank is improbably, disarmingly honest.
Michael Fassbender spends the majority of Lenny Abrahamson's irreverent comedy "Frank" buried underneath a giant plastic head, but the honesty of his performance is on full display.
With the soulful Gleeson and a sweetly menacing Fassbender (under a giant helmet-head) at its center, the movie never loses its acerbic edge or its oversize heart.
The whole thing is in danger of becoming arch and quirky, yet Abrahamson steers the final act of his drama toward a sombre, unhappy rumination.
"Frank" has a wry sense of humor, the ring of authenticity and glimmers of genuine wisdom.
There's a perseverance to "Frank" that's also uplifting, a true spirit of unity among the damaged.
The film does everything right on a technical and structural angle...it chooses realism over sensation.
Abrahamson makes such light, subtle work of this film's potentially stodgy moral.
Frank is a delightful finger-snapping oddball set to music and creative mayhem
It's a film that, like the music of its titular character, takes pride in not being for everyone's taste.
In a film starring a papier mache face, it was one of the most realistically optimistic moments I have ever seen, and one which I'm going to think about for a long time.
I can't think of anyone who would want to watch a film about the creepy 1980s comedy act Frank Sidebottom, except people really missing Jimmy Savile.
Fassbender should be praised for the intelligent way that he composes a whole fascinating character whose face we can't see, in an insightful film that is so well balanced between comedy and drama, with eccentric characters and an astute understanding of our need to be loved.
Super Reviewer
Surrounded by believable performances, a great story, and characters that you will not want to look away from, "Frank" is an immersive little indie film that is not easy to resist. Domnhall Gleeson leads this wacky picture, as he is recruited by a band who makes terrible music, as they are in their mindset of making their first album. Going off to a secluded cabin to record, many new group memebers are met. Namely, Frank, a man who refuses to take off this weirdly shaped mask, and the story that unfolds to that story is not all that surprising, but more appreciative. I loved every minute of this film, from it's great cinematography to the fact that the terrible music they played through the film could be passed as decent. Although I think the film ends on an easy note, it is the best way to quietly end the film. This picture is the perfect length for the story it is trying to convey, and it is a very easy watch. I highly recommend "Frank," it's terrific.
Civilization is comprised of little islands of humanity (we call them cliques) and this film takes a look at one such pocket led by a curious individual who hides his persona beneath a paper mache head of some cartoon character. That he is a leader is demonstrated to be less by personal design than by that nobody else wants the job, and therein is the major focus of this curiosity: we deserve the leaders we get. What drives this clique is the desire to create music, and Frank, the emotionally stunted soul at the center, is the jewel through which the group achieves this desire. A commentary on all of our leaders thereby, and on all of us as well.
A fledgling songwriter befriends an EDM/sound effect band led by a disturbed yet brilliant man who is never seen without a papier-mache head on. There's that peculiar Irish humor and that awkward Irish sweetness, but the story moves like a juggernaut without motivation. Because the "music" is so weird yet clearly "genius" in the world of the movie, it's unclear whether Jon's adulation and plans for fame are genuine or sinister (perhaps with the intention of outing the group as a freakshow). Frank's own weirdness or genius also clouds his trust in and encouragement of Jon. Does he truly want fame, or is he just yanking Jon's chain for yuks? If we are to take both these characters at face value, then it's just weak characterization. Jon must have lived under a cyber-rock to believe tens of thousands of views on YouTube is worth a damn, and Frank is much too offbeat an oddball to actually crave outside validation. Then to have his idiosyncracy boiled down to mental illness is just another lazy resolution.
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