You've known dudes like Steve "Lips" Kudlow and Robb Reiner, lifelong friends so convinced that their band is going to "make it" that you wouldn't even dream of offering up an opinion to the contrary, no matter how logical or grounded or loving. And who are you to say that it won't happen anyway? These two men came thiiiis close to grabbing that brass ring in the early 80's as part of Canadian metal deities Anvil, and now that they've had a taste they want more. But the sad reality is that they're on the non-headbanging side of 50 at this point, with families, dead-end jobs, and a record-buying public that seems to have stopped caring a long time ago.

Screenwriter Sacha Gervasi (Spielberg's "The Terminal") roadied for Anvil back in 1985, and his directing debut finds Gervasi catching up with his former bosses, still passionately plugging away in the face of overwhelming apathy. After a little backstory and testaments from the likes of Lemmy and Slayer's Tom Araya, "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" follows the band members through their unglamorous days, kicking into gear when a well meaning but incompetent manager arranges a European tour for Anvil, the bulk of which goes hilariously, heartbreakingly wrong. "But at least there was a tour for it to go wrong on," Lips reminds us, his optimism and dedication somehow morphing during the course of the film from positively deluded to absolutely inspirational.

"Anvil! The Story of Anvil!" is being called a real-life "Spinal Tap," a parallel it gleefully invites with knobs that go to 11 and an actual visit to Stonehenge. And while that comparison might be apt on the surface, it doesn't begin to do the film or its complicated subjects justice. Gervasi had no way of knowing how events might unfold once he trained his cameras on Anvil, but he struck gold, our initial snickers of pity over the sight of frizzy-haired, aging rockers giving way to awe and more than a little recognition of having a dream that you refuse to let die or allow anyone to kill.