Anvil is a Canadian heavy metal band that goes back to 1978, though the two core sustaining members, Robb Reiner and Steve Kudlow, first started playing together five years earlier than that, when they were fourteen years old. They've put out a dozen albums since 1981, mostly on small labels with such names as Attic and Viper, but they've managed to stay just this side of cult status. Now their big break may have arrived in the form of a movie: they star in the documentary Anvil: The Story of Anvil, which marks the directorial debut of Sacha Gervasi, who had his big break a few years back when Steven Spielberg directed The Terminal, from his original screenplay. Gervasi says that he's "grateful" for that experience, which he characterizes as having had "the greatest, most highly paid day job in the world." But after seeing his idea for a gentle, oddball little comedy turned into "their movie"--i.e., Spielberg's and star Tom Hanks's--he felt an urgent need to "make a statement I was in control of.” Anvil, which had a triumphant reception at the Sundance Film Festival, is shaping up as a positive career experience for Gervasi, his producer, Rebecca Yeldham, and the band itself, even if they are having to put up with hearing their life story compared to This Is Spinal Tap.
Actually, it could be that compared to Anvil, Spinal Tap didn't know from dues. Gervasi told reporter John Anderson that he knew he had the unconvinced Yeldham hooked when he took her out to dinner with Steve Kudlow and, as Anderson writes, "At some point during their meal Mr. Kudlow made a melancholy admission: During one of his many less-than-glamorous, non-rock ’n’ roll careers, he had delivered fish to that same restaurant. After all those years of lugging in the snapper and cod, this was the first time he had sat in the dining room." (Gervasi himself knew the band from when he'd worked for them as a roadie in the 1980s.) Inevitably, the buzz around the movie has now earned Anvil offers from record companies, including one that actually rejects them in the movie. For now, the band is happy to see how much promotion they can get out of the movie. Summing up the current state of his ambitions, Steve Kudlow says, “I can’t envision myself being a millionaire, but I can envision myself going to a gig every night and making enough money to make ends meet. I want to be the biggest bar band in the world and work endlessly.” Having played Sundance and Toronto's Hoc Docs festival, Anvil will soon be seen at the Brooklyn Academy of Music as part of its showcase presentation of this year's attention-getting Sundance entries.