Following up The Sopranos is a tall order, so perhaps it’s no surprise that series creator David Chase lowered his sights for his first theatrical feature — so much so that he ends in the dirt. John Magaro is engrossing as a New Jersey teenager named Douglas who dreams of fronting the Garden State’s answer to the Rolling Stones, but the film is a jumbled mess of conflicting tones and half-sketched ideas; it’s like an explosion in a script factory. There’s evident passion in Chase’s devotion to the details of starting a band, the mixture of self-doubt and arrogance that goes with reaching for the brass ring. (When one of Douglas’ relatives asks if playing music keeps you young, he drawls, “Does Dostoyevsky keep you young?”) It’s as if Chase is lost without the discipline of the writers’ room, or perhaps he’s just relishing the freedom of not having to bridge the gap between one episode and the next. Whatever the reason, Not Fade Away is shockingly off-key at times, the only upside being that it’s so forgettable it won’t leave a dent on Chase’s shining legacy.
