Movie Review: “SOLD OUT” The Right Note
There are untold numbers of people with frustrated dreams. A budding rapper who puts their beats aside for a stable job in city government. A wannabe singer who croons in the car between shifts as a claims adjuster. Sure, there are those that want a career in the arts, and the thing that’s holding them back is a lack of talent.
But you know what’s worse than that? It’s when a legitimate creative gives in to the wrong people. Walk into a bookstore or head over to Netflix. Every filmmaker, writer, musician, and artsy-fartsy type had at least one individual in their life who said variations of the following to them:
- “It’s too hard.”
- “Who do you think you are?”
- “You need to be practical.”
- “You have other responsibilities that need to come first.”
- “You can’t do it.”
Are the people that say these things to creatives terrible? In most cases, I don’t think so. In most cases, they mean well. A person can mean well and still be harmful. The flip side of that is that when one person believes in your talent, they’re rocket fuel. The new film Sold Out understands that. It’s a debut feature, and despite being a little clunky, it has something intelligent and perceptive to say regarding who creatives surround themselves with.
Luckily for John and luckily for us as viewers, Kat (Kelsey McMahon) comes into his life. She’s a freelance talent scout and she’s good at her job. So much so that a local band she’s guiding has a sold-out show, and the right people are there to see them. It looks like their rocket is pulling into the stratosphere, and it’s that moment where Kat takes her leave.
What’s next for Kat? John. He overhears her at a bar talking to crusty bartender Malone (Bruce Bohne). He takes a chance and gives her a demo CD. The good news is, John doesn’t suck! John’s music has a little Bruce Springsteen, a little John Prine, and a lot of himself. The better news is that Kat sees potential in him. Real potential.
Kat gives John an offer. She’ll mentor him, take him on the road, help him become the musician he always dreamed he could be. John will have to leave his job in construction, his increasingly chilly marriage, and his ridiculously cute daughter Millie (Naomie Bardwell). Along with helping John, Kat will have to come to terms with her feelings for him and the past she’s so successfully run from.
That attention to character is also a key feature of writer Susan Brightbill’s script. She does something very clever and initially presents her characters as tropes — the sad-sack almost artist or the tough as nails manager. Then she peels the layers of the characters back, showing their strengths, foibles, and complexities. For example, when Lauren is first introduced, she’s portrayed as a killjoy. Subsequent scenes humanize her, and that care toward supporting characters makes the main characters and plot that much stronger. Additionally, Brightbill shows us that the process of creation…well, sucks. It’s not like the scene in the not very good Bohemian Rhapsody where Queen creates their biggest hit and makes it look easy. Sam noodles on his guitar, writes and re-writes, and sweats blood. Creation is hard. It takes time. We see all of that, and the time spent on the genesis of a song gives the eventual performance more of a satisfying payoff.
As you read this, somebody desperately wants to create, to make something. Nobody ever said the act of creation was easy, but that person might have an even tougher burden due to the people around them. Luckily, there’s hope. If you look at the movie poster for Sold Out, the tagline reads, “All it takes is one person to believe in you.” That’s a cliche that’s been around forever. It also happens to be true.
*For a certain kind of person, the terms “grow up” and “give up” are interchangeable.
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