Anvil! The Story of Anvil

Even though Anvil, a four-piece speed-metal circus that never amounted to anything more than “the demigods of Canadian metal,” guitarist Steve “Lips” Kudlow and drummer Robb Reiner decided early on that their objective was “to rock forever” and at all costs. Director Sacha Gervasi, a British screenwriter (The Terminal) who had been a roadie for Anvil as a teenager, reunites with Kudlow and Reiner for this phenomenal rockumentary whose first half follows the band on its biggest tour in 20 years, to Europe. The five-week trek turns out to be a logistical nightmare: They miss trains in Sweden, get lost in Prague, and perform in Transylvania to 174 people in a 10,000-capacity arena. But that’s nothing compared with later scenes of Anvil in the studio recording its 13th album — a last-ditch attempt at mainstream recognition. Robb threatens to quit; Lips ends up crying into the camera. Everyone engages in emotionally weighted therapeutic discourse. Yet somehow, these Headbangers Ball footnotes end up being more human and likable than the Mighty Ducks.