Band Aid is the best kind of bait-and-switch indie comedy. Its cute premise and primetime-TV cast could just entice mainstream moviegoers into discovering that writer/director Zoe Lister-Jones' unique, vital voice obliterates the conventional rom-com characterizations they've been spoon-fed for decades. Lister-Jones and Adam Pally star as Anna and Ben, two thirty-something, married artists struggling with career ruts, romantic complacency, and another issue I won't spoil. The only way to survive their constant arguments, they learn, is to infuse them with rhythm and rhyme. Aided by an eccentric neighbor/drummer (Fred Armisen), the couple begins performing in public and soon becomes a club-scene sensation. Because Band Aid is not really about a band, Lister-Jones spares us the predictably happy (or predictably sad) plot points and resolutions, focusing instead on rich, honest words and surprisingly brutal performances--resulting in a sharp, tragicomic film that lets neither its characters nor its audience off the hook.
Listen to Kicking the Seat Podcast #230 to hear Ian's quick jam session with Band Aid writer/director Zoe Lister-Jones!!