The Fred Durst Movie Might Not Be As Awful As We Feared/Hoped

Can you believe it’s been almost ten years since we all started making fun of Fred Durst? He was the gimp that kept on giving: There was the late-’80s demo tape, the sex tape, and, most offensive of all, the video for “Behind Blue Eyes.” So when we heard he was making a movie, we immediately laughed it off, thinking that it would be yet another entry in Durst’s embarrassing CV. But now, less than a week after The Education Of Charlie Banks premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, we have to ask: Could this movie actually not be terrible, after all?

Our first clue that something was amiss was when Banks won an award at Tribeca; it was for best “Made In NY” feature, but still. Then, we started hearing some “You know what? It ain’t so bad” chatter from trusted friends. And then there was yesterday’s Variety review:

A bright but awkward college student learns to confront his fears and do the right thing in “The Education of Charlie Banks,” a solid American indie that falls just short of earning top marks. New York-set, seriocomic coming-of-ager marks the feature-film helming bow of Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst, whose notoriety, plus strong performances by rising names Jesse Eisenberg (“The Squid and the Whale”) and Eva Amurri (“Saved!”), should make this a popular fest item before graduating to niche theatrical and/or ancillary…

Rocker Durst, whose previous helming experience was in musicvids, proves surprisingly adept at character-driven storytelling

Granted, “surprisingly adept” may sound like faint praise, but Variety reviews are less about artistry and more about potential box-office success, so this write-up actually bodes well for Durst (who, judging by this picture, is starting to look more and more like a beefier Michael Stipe). We don’t want to comment on movies we haven’t seen yet (we only do that for music), so if you happened to catch a screening, drop us a line and let us know.

Reviews – The Education Of Charlie Durst [Variety.com]