Mark's (Michael Casey) a 17 year old punk who has pretty much not found his direction yet, and that wears him down, and being the prime target of pathetic neighbourhood bully Darren (Jack Hayes) doesn't help one bit either, nor does playing music on street corners with his brother Steve (Paul Fitzgerald) and feisty 10 year old harmonica player Sammy (Piper Murphy) to an unadoring crowd. But then he meets Lulu (Sinead Morrissey), the girl next door who's about his age, who at first makes it clear she couldn't care less about him - but before long she takes a liking in his totally fruitless ways to impress her, and she also kind of gets his punk rock attitude, even helps him to develop it - and before you know it, they're a couple, even if they're too punk rock to admit it. And before they know it, they launch a punk rock band together, even if they're lacking in everything, from musicians to instruments to everything else, and their attempts to steal money or con people out of some mostly backfire. Still, Lulu is exactly the rock Mark - or Electric Dreamboat, as he calls himself now - needs. That said, Lulu has issues of her own, most of all with her alcoholic mother (Maeve McGrath) who has neglected her for years and only now tries to get back into her life, and however much of a rock she might be for him, even rocks can crumble ...

Now the first few minutes, Lulu and the Electric Dreamboat feels incredibly on-your-nose and almost painfully clichéed - until one realizes this is totally intentional and part of the film's punk rock attitude. And before long, the film starts to subvert its clichés, subvert its coming-of-age story as a whole - and it's nothing short of darn funny doing so. And basically, the film shows an incredible amount of subtlety in its on-your-nose-ness, its clichés show incredible depth. And the script is actually very clever and doesn't follow genre conventions without betraying the genre, while the acting's both strong and relatable, with the sum of all this being a very entertaining and yet properly thoughtful piece of cinema.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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