“Gigantic”
Cowboy Pictures
Directed by AJ Schnack
Produced by Shirley Moyers
Featuring John Flansburgh, John Linnell, Gina Arnold, Michael Azerrad, Adam Bernstein, David Bither, Frank Black, Linwood Boomer, Brian Cohen, Pat Dillett, Sue Drew, Dave Eggers, Jake Fogelnest, Joe Franklin, Janeane Garofalo, Ira Glass, Jonathan Gregg, Dan Hickey, Kurt Hoffman, Mark Hoppus, Al Houghton, John Houlihan, William Ingoglia, Mike Kelly, Jamie Kitman, Jamie Lincoln Kitman, Josh Kornbluth, Bill Krauss, Robert Krulwich, Michael McKean, Dan Miller, Glenn Morrow, Alex Noyes, Conan O'Brien, Annette O'Toole, Gary Ray, Andy Richter, Raoul Rosenberg, Harry Shearer, Paul Simon, Michael Small, Jim Stabile, Jon Stewart, Syd Straw, Sarah Vowell and Danny Weinkauf
Not Rated
Opens Friday at the Broadway
See interview with John Flansburgh, R4

“Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns” avoids the standard music documentary clichés of backstabbing and scandals and is determinedly focused on the music and the relationship that creates it. The closest the film comes to an exposé on drug use is a parody that examines the band member’s coffee dependence.

The titular Johns are John Linnell and John Flansburgh, who formed They Might Be Giants in the early ’80s as an outlet for experimental pop that spanned genres from rock to polka, from funk to country. They have since completed several albums that, despite not being smash hits upon their release, have displayed more staying power than most albums that sell millions the first month and are then left to gather dust.

Director AJ Schnack sets out to get to the bottom of this staying power by interweaving interviews, archival footage, concert footage and other interesting material.

The interviews include such people as NPR personalities Ira Glass and Sarah Vowell, author Dave Eggars and several of the band’s colleagues including manager Jamie Kitman, producer Bill Krauss, who helped the band record its first two masterful albums, and fellow musicians including Frank Black and Syd Straw (which is not to say I know what Straw is talking about for half of what’s shown of her interview). Most of the material offers interesting insight into the band’s music. The articulate interviewees explain what makes the band so special.

	The two Johns, Linnell and Flansburgh, of They Might Be Giants prepare backstage before an appearance on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien."

In an effort to call attention to the Johns’ dark lyrics, which often go unnoticed in the shadow of more upbeat music, actors such as Janeane Garofalo, Andy Richter and Michael McKean give spoken word renditions of some of the songs.

Other interviewees offer insights into the band’s dynamic, identifying Linnell as the quiet, introverted John (one person says that if he wasn’t in a band, he’d still write songs in his basement all day) and Flansburgh as the extroverted John who acts as the spokesman/workaholic who carries out much of the band’s business end.

The closest the movie gets to scandal is the unfolding of Elektra records, the major label that the band recorded for during the ’90s before the A & R head left and the president was fired, leaving the band, and several other notable acts, without any enthusiastic people to promote the records. The years-old incident is reminiscent of “I am Trying to Break Your Heart,” Sam Jones’s Wilco documentary about creating music in commerce. The band works just as hard regardless of the money it brings in, but those concerned with the bottom line look at it from another point of view.

The film’s weakest aspect is the concert footage, which features highlights from a live performance (most notably a rave-up version of “The Guitar” under the end credits). While the music is excellent, the camerawork and editing fail to visually translate it. The cinematography accents the washed out reds of the lighting design. Fortunately, most of the live material is used as background footage for other, more eye-pleasing material and interesting archival footage.

Schnack has created a satisfying visual history of one of the most creative musical forces of the last quarter-century, with sharp observations that will please both the inexperienced listener and the die-hard fan who has every album and B-side the band has ever recorded.
jeremy@red-mag.com