Fathers, Sons, and a Setlist of Second Chances

Read Time:5 Minute, 44 Second

MOVIE REVIEW
Band on the Run
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Genre: Comedy, Drama, Music, Road Movie
Year Released: 2025
Runtime: 1h 28m
Director(s): Jeff Hupp
Writer(s): Jeff Hupp, Colby Clayton Lemaster
Cast: Larry Bagby, Matt Perl, Dylan Randazzo, Landon Tavernier, Jake Eberle, Jessie Pettit
Where to Watch: available now, watch here: www.amazon.com or www.linktr.ee

RAVING REVIEW: At first glance, BAND ON THE RUN looks like a straightforward indie road movie: a band chasing a shot at South by Southwest, a van full of tension, and the promise of a rival group waiting to clash along the way. But what gives the film its shape isn’t just the music or the road-trip formula. It’s the story of a chronically ill father insisting on being part of the ride and his son, who struggles to balance his obligations with his ambitions. That generational conflict, set against the very specific backdrop of Detroit’s late-90s garage rock revival, makes the film more than just a string of tour-bus anecdotes.

Larry Bagby anchors the film as Thomas, a father who has lived long enough to know the world doesn’t hand out second chances easily, but who still wants to believe his son might get one. Bagby never overplays the illness angle, which could have turned sentimental in lesser hands. Instead, his performance is grounded, blending stubbornness with humor and letting his vulnerability come through in quieter moments. He becomes both a burden and a source of energy for the trip, which is exactly what the character requires.

Opposite him, Matt Perl makes his feature lead debut as Jesse, the band’s drummer who splits his life between a hollow advertising job and the unpredictable dream of rock and roll. Perl gives Jesse a believability that sells the character as someone stuck between two incompatible futures. He’s too responsible to abandon security but too restless to settle into a career that drains him. That conflict is relatable even outside the music setting, and it makes him more than just a “kid chasing stardom.” The interplay between Bagby and Perl is where the film finds its heartbeat, and those scenes hold the most emotional weight.

The ensemble around them rounds out the story with varying degrees of effectiveness. Dylan Randazzo as Cody and Landon Tavernier as J.J. contribute some of the film’s more lighthearted beats, filling out the van with the kind of personalities you expect on a road trip: loyal, annoying, funny, and occasionally frustrating. Their banter gives the film a pulse, even if a few jokes land a little off. Jake Eberle and Jessie Pettit appear in smaller roles that highlight the eccentric, sometimes cartoonish encounters found in stories like this. Some of these characters lean too far into caricature, especially in side plots around Jesse’s day job in advertising.

Where the movie struggles most is in its tone; it clearly aims to balance comedy and drama, allowing a goofy band rivalry to coexist with a father-son reckoning. Sometimes that balance works, particularly in scenes where humor breaks the tension. But at other times, the jokes undercut the sincerity. An emotional conversation may be deflated too quickly by a forced laugh, or a dramatic reveal may arrive in a scene still echoing from the last joke. The film would benefit from letting its heavier moments sit without rushing to soften them. It doesn’t need to abandon humor, but it could give the drama a cleaner space to land.

Music, surprisingly (and unfortunately), plays a limited role in the storytelling. There are references to Detroit’s garage rock moment, mentions of SXSW as the destination, and nods to the era’s message boards, where bands could wage online wars. But actual performance is scarce. The lack of music scenes keeps the focus on the characters, which is admirable, but it also feels like a missed opportunity. A few more performances, even a messy one, would have given the band a clearer identity and heightened the stakes of their journey. Without it, the music scenes become more of a backdrop than a driving force.

By situating the story at the end of the city’s garage-rock “gold rush,” the film taps into a moment when bands genuinely believed they might escape the factory jobs of their parents and grandparents. That cultural detail lends weight to the characters’ ambitions, reminding viewers that this wasn’t just about chasing fame—it was about believing music could be a way out of the Rust Belt grind.

The main takeaway is that BAND ON THE RUN works best when it’s focused on the relationship between father and son. That dynamic carries the film through its weaker stretches. The comedy, the rivalry, the van antics—all of those are secondary. What keeps the viewer invested is the sense of two people who don’t fully understand how to be in each other’s lives but know they don’t want to waste the time they have left.

It’s not flawless. The shifts could be smoother, the rivalry could have more bite, and the music could be more present. However, the performances, especially those of Bagby, provide the film with a foundation strong enough to support it. It’s a heartfelt indie that remembers the small things: family, loyalty, and the strange mix of tension and affection that fills a van when people are stuck together chasing a dream. That’s enough to make the ride worth taking.

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[photo courtesy of THE POWERS THAT BE MEDIA, FREESTYLE DIGITAL MEDIA]

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