Synopsis
It's April 1994. The Handy Kaufmans are New Jersey's foremost underachieving rock band. Kurt Cobain has just committed suicide, and this band full of slackers is about to embark on one final tour. They've been at it for four years. Either they make it big this time they grab the brass ring of a record contract or they resign themselves to a life of nine-to-five mediocrity. Lee, the band leader and drummer, is a control freak who also never finishes what he starts. Mike, the chief songwriter, tries to emulate the tortured-artist lifestyle of the rock-and-roll icons he idolizes, like Cobain. Donnie, lead singer and compulsive womanizer, and Big Frank, the incompetent but golden-hearted manager, round out the band personnel. (Their bassist, Jim, electrocutes himself in a drunken pissing contest.) The Kaufmans are joined by last-minute replacement Trixie, a wild rock-and-roll beauty and bassist who sparks up Lee's dormant romantic instincts. What will this tour across the Midwest and New York State hold for the band? Will they be able to overcome their own worst enemies themselves in their quest to make it to the final gig? It is there, at a huge state fair, that Lee expects a powerful record company executive to see their performance. He will sign them, Lee vows, and catapult them to their dream of stardom.


Prizes and Awards
Jury Prize, Tambay Film Festival 2002