Adventures of Power

In the wake of the sleeper hit Napoleon Dynamite, it's not surprising that copycats would milk the same nerd-chic appeal. Here, writer-director Ari Gold plays upon the postmillennial hipster passion for bad '80s music and air-guitar contests, casting himself in the starring role as Power, an unsociable dork whose primary personality trait is annoyingly exaggerated innocence. Power works with his curmudgeonly father, Harlan (Michael McKean), in a copper mine in New Mexico, but is obsessed with air-drumming—an interest that costs him his job. This turn of events leads the unbearably dull Power to embark on a cross-country trip to Newark, NJ, where he lives in the broom closet of a Chinese restaurant and joins a troop of similarly goofy “musicians,” led by a ridiculous prosthetic-limbed hard-ass, all seeking to win a talent competition in New York. In better hands, Adventures of Power could have been a John Hughes ugly duckling–type film, but unfortunately lacks both the solid acting and sharp dialogue of films like The Breakfast Club or Sixteen Candles. Not recommended. (M. Sandlin)