Writer: Elaine Ewe

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It is not often that a rock musical film is made in Malaysia for Malaysians, so it stands to reason that there is a certain amount of buzz among the locals for "Leftwings". In addition, the film centres around the popular local rock group Wings, which was fronted by Awie (lead vocals), backed up by Black (drums), Syam (guitars) and Eddie (bass), so a little more hype is piled upon. However, the question becomes, does it live up to the hype?

When watching local movies, a certain amount of reservation must be had and slack must be cut. Even so, "Leftwings" makes for a painful watch, a side effect not from the lacklustre plot, but its characters. The film tells the story of four young men who bond over their idol worship of Wings, and in turn, hope to make it big like their idols. This leads them to form an indie band named Leftwings, a name that is meant to symbolise their band's support to their idols, a.k.a. the left to Wings' right, the right being the simile of correct and also right of hand. While the symbolism associated with the name itself is commendable, the amount of cheesiness that accompanies it is not. To make things worse, the meaning of the name is declared out loud in the film.

That particular scene also bears testament to one of the many things gone wrong in "Leftwings". All the actors feel the need to declare or shout out their lines dramatically, accentuated with pauses in between, making every scene seem like cheap theatre plays. The cinematography of the film weights this film down further, with much too many split-screens than necessary. Edgar Wright's "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World" comes to mind immediately, but "Leftwings" is neither comic nor animated, so splitting screens to show two shots of Aweera singing the same song in different garb makes absolutely no sense. There is also the signature quick cuts seen in comedies, but considering that "Leftwings" is already juggling a shortage of backstory and a surfeit of plot, its attempts to infuse comedy is merely seen as a last-ditch attempt to pull in more audiences. For example, we have the usual bumbling gangsters trying to collect on a debt, but it is a plotline that trails off into a dead end, hence the feeling that the film is trying to bestow a bargain on you (Here, have some laughs since you paid quite a bit to watch this but we don't really have anything happening now).

If anything could save this film, it is Faizal Chal Ahmad's cast and their tunes. Aweera, Zouladeq, Wan Zaimie, Paly and Ebi Kornelis may need to work harder to stand out, but as far as it goes now, it is their lack of acting that makes their characters endearing to watch. When they are not dramatically declaring their obsession with Wings and their worries of the band's next big gig, they are left to meander through their fictional lives or just sing, allowing them to take on more relatable personas and music has always been said to be able to bring the world together. Zouladeq, who provides a first-person narration of the film, manages to hit some humour notes now and then, especially with this self-contemplation of his band mates. Meanwhile, Ebi Kornelis, who plays a foreigner named Anton, is eccentric and pompous and Paly, who plays Shah, the dude that looks like a Chinese but is not Chinese, is a cheerful dork that looks like he is high half the time. The only weak link is Aweera, who plays the lead vocalist, Ray, except that it is not his lack of charisma that undermines his role, but the typically dumb script and complete predictability.

In conclusion, "Leftwings" just proves that singers and musicians are best left off singing and making music, as the tunes do not stop it feeling as dumb as a brick. Faizal Chal Ahmad's attempt to boost Malaysia's film industry by giving it a rock musical has certainly been noted, only that it was never asked for in the first place.

Cinema Online, 10 August 2012