Frank (2014)
84%RT Audience Score: 72%
Awards & Nominations: 4 wins & 6 nominations
Funny, clever, and endearingly unusual, Frank transcends its quirky trappings with a heartfelt — and surprisingly thought-provoking — story
Frank is a movie that’s as weird as it is wonderful. Michael Fassbender gives a performance that’s both honest and hilarious, even though he spends most of the movie wearing a giant plastic head. The rest of the cast is just as great, playing crazy with cool, measured aplomb. The movie is a refreshing representation of musical genius and the nature of fame, and it’s definitely worth a watch if you’re in the mood for something unique and silly. Plus, who doesn’t love seeing Fassbender in papier mache?
Production Company(ies)
Killer Films, New Line Cinema,
Distributor
Magnolia Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Troublemaker Studios – 4900 Old Manor Road, Austin, Texas, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated R for strong brutal stylized violence throughout, sexual content, nudity, and brief drug use
Year of Release
2014
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 35m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United Kingdom
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Aug 15, 2014 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 9, 2014
Genre(s)
Comedy/Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gle
Worldwide gross: $39,407,616
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $49,249,559
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,342
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 5,370,726
US/Canada gross: $13,757,804
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $17,193,777
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,458
US/Canada opening weekend: $6,317,683
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $7,895,507
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,020
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $65,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $81,233,569
Production budget ranking: 515
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $43,744,277
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$75,728,288
ROI to date (est.): -61%
ROI ranking: 1,747
Domhnall Gleeson – Jon
Maggie Gyllenhaal – Clara
Scoot McNairy – Don
Carla Azar – Nana
François Civil – Baraque
Director – Lenny Abrahamson
Producers – Ed Guiney, David Barron, Stevie Lee
Writers – Jon Ronson, Peter Straughan
Director(s)
Lenny Abrahamson
Writer(s)
Jon Ronson, Peter Straughan
Producer(s)
Ed Guiney, David Barron, Stevie Lee
Film Festivals
Sundance, South by Southwest
Awards & Nominations
4 wins & 6 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (166) | Top Critics (55) | Fresh (153) | Rotten (13)
Fassbender gives a finely textured performance both in and out of the head.
January 6, 2015
Ryan Gilbey
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
Beneath those puppet-headed antics, and true to its title, Frank is improbably, disarmingly honest.
January 6, 2015 | Rating: 3/4
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
Michael Fassbender spends the majority of Lenny Abrahamson’s irreverent comedy “Frank” buried underneath a giant plastic head, but the honesty of his performance is on full display.
January 6, 2015 | Rating: B
Eric Kohn
indieWire
TOP CRITIC
With the soulful Gleeson and a sweetly menacing Fassbender (under a giant helmet-head) at its center, the movie never loses its acerbic edge or its oversize heart.
January 6, 2015 | Rating: A-
Kyle Anderson
Entertainment Weekly
TOP CRITIC
Pleasingly and perhaps surprisingly, given the extremities of the material, the cast plays crazy with cool, measured aplomb.
January 6, 2015 | Rating: B+
Guy Lodge
HitFix
TOP CRITIC
Frank is profoundly weird — and perhaps also weirdly profound.
September 23, 2014 | Rating: 4/5
Kate Muir
Times (UK)
TOP CRITIC
‘Frank’ addresses mental illness head-on and in a very, well, frank manner.
November 10, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Michael J. Casey
Michael J. Cinema
Frank is much more interested in the rough than the diamond and because of that, it remains one of the more refreshing representations of musical genius and the nature of fame in recent memory.
June 23, 2021
Cody Corrall
Paste Magazine
By the end, Frank is not about anything. Definitely not about music. But is it not funny? Tons. Fun to see Fassbender in papier mache? Oh yeah. It’s a great, unique, silly comedy.
February 22, 2021
Dustin Chang
Floating World
Not to be outdone by her brother, Maggie Gyllenhaal also has a quirky, tough-to-pin-down film featuring an enigmatic costumed character named Frank. This “Frank” burrows into the artistic conflict between commodifying pain into a persona.
December 30, 2020 | Rating: 4/5
Nick Rogers
Midwest Film Journal
However you find Frank, find him. He’ll be the best weird friend you’ve met in a while.
August 6, 2019 | Rating: A-
Ryan Syrek
The Reader (Omaha, NE)
It begs interesting questions, even if the way it ponders them can only be described as eccentric.
August 5, 2019 | Rating: 4/5
Karl Delossantos
Smash Cut Reviews…
Plot
Marv is unconscious on a highway surrounded by corpses. When he awakes, he has amnesia and tries to recall his last steps from the Kadie’s saloon on the Saturday night. He recalls that he found four playboys burning a homeless man alive and defended the poor man. Marv hunts them down and kills the group. The cocky gambler Johnny hits jackpot in slot machines in the Kadie’s saloon and invites the waitress Marcie to go with him to play poker game against the powerful Senator Roark. He wins the game and suffers the consequence of his arrogance. The private detective Dwight McCarthy is contacted by his former lover Ava Lord that asks to meet him at the Kadie’s saloon. Ava asks him for forgiveness for leaving him to marry the wealthy Damian Lord. However her strong chauffeur Manute takes her home. Dwight snoops around Ava’s house but is found and beaten by Manute and the bodyguards. When he returns home, Ava is waiting for him naked in the bed and seduces him again. Then she tells that Damian and Manute torture her and soon she will be killed. Once again Manute takes Ava with him and hits Dwight that invites Marv to help him to rescue Ava. Damian denies the accusation but Dwight beats him to death while Marv tear Manute’s eye out. But soon Dwight finds that he was lured by Ava that shoots him. Marv rescues Dwight and takes him to the Old Town where Dwight finds his former lover Gail that helps him to recover while Dwight plots revenge against Ava.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The film features Michael Fassbender wearing a giant fake head for most of the movie.
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