Fubar

Dowse's faux documentary tries (and fails) to do for no-hoper Canadian 'headbanger' culture what the inimitable Spinal Tap did for British cock rock. 'Fubar' is army slang for Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition, and one of the proud boasts of protagonists Dean and Terry. On the evidence of this pair, with their greasy 'mullets', six-pack Pilseners and Beavis and Butt-head phraseology, the drop-out, permanently adolescent metal freaks of Cowtown (Calgary) provide a ripe constituency for satire. All aspects of the moron life get spot-on set pieces here. Furthermore, actor/producer/writer collaborators Spence (Dean) and Lawrence (Terry) offer improvised performances that are superbly sustained and surprisingly sympathetic. So what spoils the fun? Maybe it's the presumptiousness and self-consciousness in the way cheap budget packages such as this make their knowing bids for minor cult status, depriving the film of that essential innocence that served to deepen and dignify the humour of a film like Tap.