Alex Ross Perry’s Pavements is an exciting and original take on the modern music documentary; part satirical biopic, part episodic archival footage rise, part reflection on getting old, part cultural impact timepiece, all scored to some really great music.

Perry’s style quickly discombobulates the viewer, chaotically smashing between all of these strands and elements, not really explaining the method, nor the madness. He paints Stephen Malkmus as quite a jerk from the jump, showing footage of him acting like a giant asshole to his bandmates (and this won’t be the last time we see him act poorly on stage), but every step forward in the film feels like it is trying to let the viewer understand what made this guy tick (without ever really excusing him of being a jerk, either). You will be a fan of Malkmus, most likely, by the end of the film and you will certainly understand why this band has held such a strong and passionate following for years after that initial break-up scene. 

The experimentation Perry puts into play around the documentary form is as invigorating as the Pavement music that pumps through your speakers, as Perry mounts a fake biopic and a real-ish stage musical about and in the spirit of Pavement. This is all on top of a sort of fake, sometimes real art instilation that serves as a culmination of the band and their achievements, having successful gripped the hearts of music fans in the 90s and returned to the music scene some 20 years later. Perry intercuts all of these elements with archival footage of the bands rise and reuinion rehershal sessions, and all of it feels of a piece with the unique and odd venture that Pavement themselves seemed to be from the start.

The tone is never too serious, but it is often quite earnest about the passion that people have poured into this band. Perry mines this for some great humor though, as the satrically-self-serious imagination of the Pavement biopic is anchored by a very game Joe Keery, whose vocal lesson scenes trying to nail the voice of Malkmus were probably the funniest scenes in the movie. The fake biopic is filled out with plenty of other familiar faces (Jason Schwartzman, Tim Heidecker, etc…) who are having a blast hamming it up, while the theater kid energy of the broadway show captures the passion for this band in spades. Michael Esper, Zoe Lister-Jones, and Kathryn Gallagher give it their all for this shortlived one off of a show Perry constructed just for this film, playing the parts we see as if they were opening the show for a big Broadway run.

Having discribed all the parts, it’s sort of hard to describe the film as a whole, but Perry expertly smashes all of these parts together in a way that really works. Plenty of laughs, always entertaining and pretty damn original, the film captures the POV & spirit of the band; with Pavements feeling like a worthy artifact capturing the essence of the vibe and music for future generations.