Melodrive

There are few experiences in life more miserable than being stuck on a long journey with someone you can’t stand, and Melodrive bottles this unpleasant essence with its story of an adulterous indie musician on a bumpy road to redemption, whose Sheeran-esque songs are the least annoying thing about him…

 

After an affair with his wife’s friend, wannabe singer/songwriter Ethan (Matt Wake) sets off on a road trip to his hometown to find some kind of direction in a life he tanked. It is here he runs into childhood sweetheart Zoey (Megan Alderson), who he convinces to accompany him with the power of the acoustic guitar. Ethan finally starts to make some strides with his music, but the unresolved pieces of his life – his destroyed marriage, and broken relationship with his parents – are never far from throwing things off course.

 

Melodrive’s insufferable protagonist Ethan is its original sin. A bad person by his own admission, the viewer is tasked to engage with a story where a return to one’s roots helps them become a better person. But there never comes a moment where one truly sympathises with Ethan’s actions, which end up petulantly blamed on his father’s legacy. Audiences will struggle to look past – but his whining, irritability and arrogance, such as in scenes where we are asked to look past the creepiness of drunkenly turning up at his ex’s house late at night to beg for forgiveness.

 

Part of this is the miscasting of Matt Wake in the lead role. Both Wake and Megan Alderson who plays love-interest Zoey present as far too young to be a pair of reunited long-lost-lovers. Wake in particular fails to convince us that he carries the scars of a failed marriage, which would at least allow viewers to transpose their own heartbreaks and complex emotional journeys onto the character – making his infidelity a little more tolerable. Instead, Ethan comes across as a young, dumb, selfish idiot who cannot possibly comprehend the magnitude of his failures.

 

It's not all Wake’s fault – it is hard to make Ethan a likeable character. Aside from the selfishness, it is truly frustrating to see so many of those around him excuse his failings or forgive his flaws seemingly because he is the protagonist of the film. There is no reason Zoey should throw her life in the air to join him on his quest – even after saying it is a mistake multiple times, just as there is no reason the woman he had an affair with would encourage him to go back to his partner, his parents put aside their feud to give him a pep-talk, or that he gets a record deal handed to him on a silver platter for getting a vibe going in a small pub. Not every protagonist has to be likeable, but we need to WANT them to succeed. All we want to see happen to Ethan is for him and his guitar to encounter Jeff Jarrett.

 

The songs themselves (composed by director Oscar Wenham-Hyde) are solid enough, with the film regularly halting to allow their full renditions. This is distracting at first but does allow for some nice character-building moments with Ethan and Zoey which are the closest moments to making us root for the pair. Megan Alderson is charming as Zoey despite her youth, and Michelle Collins as Ethan’s mum Nora gives a moving short performance. The film is visually impressive given its budget, with nice editing and framing of Ethan’s performances. Wenham-Hyde allows uncomfortable lingering in some scenes that seem to be begging Ethan to come to a realisation. Unfortunately, the writing never really follows up.

 

With a more appropriate and redeemable protagonist, there is a world in which Melodrive works. There is a lack of great British on-the-road movies, and the indie-musician angle feels tailor-made for a breakaway indie sleeper hit. Unfortunately, most viewers will not want to spend a minute longer with Ethan than they need to. His whimsical and carefree approach to the destruction he causes to those around him make him unlikable to the extreme. I’d rather take the melobus…