Adventures of Power (4 Stars)

I bought this DVD a few weeks ago, but didn't watch it till today because I was only watching horror films last month. All this time it's been lying next to my computer and I've been itching to watch it. The suspense was increasing daily. Would it live up to the expectations I'd had ever since first seeing the trailer?

Power Oblas lives in Lode, New Mexico, a town built up around copper mining. He's in his late 20's, but he's still single and lives in a single room with his aunt. Why not at least with his father, the copper mine's union leader? Obviously his father is disappointed with him. He'd given his son the name Power to inspire him to great things, but now that he's adult his father says he looks gay. Power's passion is classic rock, in particular Rush and Styx, and he constantly air drums to their music.

Due to paycuts a strike is looming in the mine. Power is fired for air drumming at work literally minutes before the strike begins. This misfortune turns out to be his lucky break. No longer having to work, he travels to Mexico where he discovers an illegal air drumming society. He barely escapes arrest when a meeting is broken up by the Mexican police -- "All air drummers and gamblers are under arrest!" -- and flees to New Jersey to join a group of like-minded air drummers.

His adventures on the east coast of the USA, far, far away from his home in New Mexico, show how his passion for music and air drumming turns his life around. He overcomes adversity to become famous, find a girlfriend, save his home town and become reconciled with his father.

By all accounts this is an unusual film. It presents a serious message hidden within a shell of comedy. Having said that, I don't really find the film funny. I can relate to Power too well to be able to laugh at his exploits. The main message of the film is that you should be true to yourself and follow your dream, even if you're ridiculed. A secondary, though just as important message, is the power of music to fulfil a person. This is a wonderful feel-good film that I strongly recommend to my friends and readers.

Click here to view the trailer.

In his introduction writer/director Ari Gold, who also plays the part of Power, says he wishes that he could be sitting with the viewers in their living room to discuss the movie. I wish he could do that as well. His bubbling passion for the movie, as shown in the interviews and commentaries on the disk, is very addictive. This was the first film he's directed, and it's a breath of fresh air in the stale world of the big business politics of the film industry. Let's hope he makes many more films.