Have you ever wishes to be someone else? I do not just mean a celebrity or a neighborhood rival, of sorts. Maybe you realized, one day, that there was something about yourself that was deficient and, somehow, you were never aware of it, but once you were MADE aware of it, you could think of nothing else. Sometimes, it takes a lifetime to understand what has happened to you and you only wish you had come to grips with it a lot sooner. These are, both, aspects of life that we are likely to faced but hope we will be spared from. Who is REALLY that lucky, though?

Ruben Stone, played by Riz Ahmed (“Venom”) is one such character study in “Sound of Metal.” He tours in a small, heavy metal band with his girlfriend, Lou, played by Olivia Cooke (“Ready Player One”) and they live a passionate, simple life on the road, in a camper. Noteworthy is the way source music is incorporated into every mundane activity of their lives. It is almost as though Ruben deliberately sets out to set the mood in as many ways as he can muster.

There is a debilitating issue, though: Ruben is losing his hearing and it is expected to only get worse. As you could imagine, hearing is pretty essential when you are a drummer or are involved in music the way that he and his girlfriend are on a regular basis. However, Ruben is not yet ready to accept his great loss. Instead, he is eager to make the most of what he has left and continue on as normal as possible. Lou is not on board with that idea and the situation disintegrates rapidly.

What I quickly considered as this portion of the story continued is that Ruben is going through the stages of grief. It is a concept that has been tried in the movies, successfully I might add, before. Still, I am not one to penalize a film just for recycling an idea. After all, “there is nothing new under the sun,” right? Furthermore, if you are someone who happens to know what the stages of grief are, by heart, you might find that information useful as you watch this story unfold.

Lou convinces Ruben to seek help with his new condition and after some resistance, he agrees, but under the guise that SHE, Lou, will wait for him before she takes any further steps in her own life. Who in their life has never felt the strong sense of motivation to persevere when someone that you love has your back? We take comfort in that, do we not?

In any case, Ruben has joined a place that is intended to not only help him learn about communication as a person who is hard of hearing, but to also accept his new life as something of a NEW normal. Ruben was considering an alternate option, which has its own set of risks, but then so do all of the decisions we make, whether they be low-risk or high-risk, etcetera. Just when it appears that Ruben is coming along and starting to find joy and peace in his humble lifestyle, he stops and turns away from it all in order to take his chances on the alternate direction.

What Ruben soon discovers is that the risk he took might not have been worth it and what he has sacrificed, in return, potentially makes it even more tragic. However, he is prepared to deal with the consequences. There is a wonderful scene in which Ruben is having a talk with Joe, played by Paul Raci, and it is just as if Joe has been doing much more than mentoring a man through a difficult transition; he is, also, making him aware of the dangers and shortcomings he has never truly been aware of, all along. Addiction takes many forms and some of them are not as clearly-defined as others are.

Moving forward, Ruben attempts to go back to his previous life, with Lou, who is now abroad. She has changed even more than he has, but there is a key difference. This is where a new crossroad emerges and they now have to make a new decision for themselves, respectively. Do you remember the song recorded and co-written by Elton John, ‘Someone Saved my Life Tonight?’ It is not just limited to a man in a cape or a deity sending his Son from the heavens. Sometimes, less is more when it comes to communication and, now, more than ever before, Ruben understands the power and release in that. If only he had learned that lesson a little bit sooner.

“Sound of Metal” has several meanings in its title and they are both effective. In a way, it makes you think and appreciate what you have watched. Most of us do not see a story tackling this specific issue and for that, the film should be commended.

Even though the subject is something of an untapped source and the acting and writing was quite good, I felt that the meaty part of the story took a bit too long to arrive. Despite my past approvals of open/ambiguous endings, in this case, I would have much preferred a more significant conclusion. Perhaps that would have been more doable had the first segment of the story not been stretched so far. That would only be my position, though. It is also my position that Riz Ahmed deserves plenty of attention for his performance. It is a good thing that award season is just around the corner, is it not?

Director: Darius Marder

Screenwriters: Darius Marder and Abraham Marder

Editor: Mikkel EG Nielsen

Starring: Riz Ahmed, Olivia Cooke, Paul Raci, Lauren Ridloff as Diane and Mathieu Amalric as Richard Berger

Distributor: Amazon Studios

Release: September 6^th 2019 (Toronto), November 20^th 2020 (USA), December 4^th 2020 (Amazon)