In K-Pops, award-winning musician Anderson .Paak plays BJ, an aspiring musician, who follows his dreams all the way to Seoul where his past catches up with him and makes him rethink what he’s really searching for in his life.
K-Pops
Anderson .Paak (director and writer), Khaila Amazan (writer), Edward J. Pei, ASC (cinematography), Ryan Folsey, Joe Frataccia (editor)
Anderson .Paak, Jee Young Han, Jonnie “Dumbfoundead” Park, Soul Rasheed, Yvette Nicole Brown, Kevin Woo, (cast)
September 7, 2024 (TIFF)
Multi-Grammy Award-winner Anderson .Paak brought his directorial debut K-Pops to the Toronto International Film Festival this year to resounding, well-deserved applause. The film, loosely based on .Paak’s personal life story, is a gorgeous, funny, and musically-resplendent film about finding yourself and accepting that dreams change.
In K-Pops, protagonist BJ (Anderson .Paak) is a small-time drummer and musician with dreams of making it big in the music industry. It’s a dream he’s committed to, so much so that every other relationship in his life takes a backseat to it. Then one day, tired of BJ’s inability to move forward with his life, his mom Brenda (Yvette Nicole Brown) and friend Cash (Jonnie “Dumbfoundead” Park) hatch a plan for BJ to go to South Korea — it’ll be a way for BJ to connect with his Korean roots, but also for him to get a foot in the door by playing for a Pop Idol show. This could be the break BJ is looking for. Of course, the moment BJ lands in Seoul, hijinks ensue when he encounters someone from his past who will change what he had in mind for his future.
I’ll be honest: the central story beats in K-Pops have been done several times before — there are a few cliches and tropes that are mainstays in any romance storyline, and they play out exactly as predictably as you can imagine in the film. It’s not helped that the leading lady of the film Yeji (Jee Young Han) has very little characterization; she’s more a catalyst for the story to move forward than a character unto herself.
But, you will forgive and forget these issues, because K-Pops is a wondrous experience filled to the brim with stunning music – K-Pop and otherwise – some lovely dance scenes and a charmingly winning performance by father-son duo .Paak and Soul Rasheed.
From the moment .Paak enters the screen, you are won over by his star power. BJ is a wannabe superstar who’s striving for a dream that is so out of reach, and .Paak manages to balance BJ’s immaturity with his passion through an expressive and charismatic performance. He’s just so likeable and loveable that you’re drawn into BJ’s story immediately. It helps that .Paak has no concerns about making his stand-in BJ a joke for us to laugh at and with. And of course, both his speaking and singing voice are so lovely to listen to, one simply must stick around to hear more.
This is .Paak’s son Soul Rasheed’s first acting role, and he took classes to make sure the performance worked. Rasheed as Tae Young, the boy who derails BJ’s life in Seoul, is a ball of energy — silly, goofy, funny; Rasheed is a freight train running away with the film. And of course, the easy chemistry with his real dad makes Tae Young and BJ’s connection all that much easier to become invested in.
But what really floored me about this film is that it’s so perfectly executed. You wouldn’t know that a first-time director worked on this — .Paak doesn’t do anything too gimmicky, but his direction is precise. This film is a celebration of family and music, especially K-Pop, and it certainly succeeds in that. There are animated interludes that speed up parts of the story and add a different dimension to the levity. And parts of this film look like music videos, which shouldn’t be a surprise given this is .Paak directing. But, he doesn’t overdo it either, so it doesn’t lose its novelty.
And did I mention the music? It’s glorious! .Paak worked with K-Pop producers to make an authentic soundtrack, which explains why so much of the music is so catchy. The music and songs are woven into the story, and it makes the whole viewing experience that much more cosy.
But nothing in this film excels the way the dialogue does. After the World Premiere screening at TIFF, Jonnie Park mentioned that .Paak let the actors improv on set. I can’t believe that any of the dialogue was improvised because the writing is so on-point and so funny. None of the gags continue too long or feel self-indulgent. I commend .Paak and everyone behind-the-scenes who knew when and what to cut so that the improvised dialogue felt completely seamless with what was already scripted.
.Paak wrote the film with co-writer Khaila Amazan. She not only has a background in film and is the reason behind the perfectly structured storytelling, but she also brought a ton of K-Pop knowledge that gives K-Pops the detail needed to make the Pop Idol competition section so engrossing. People were cheering and clapping during the competition scenes, that’s how real the experience felt.
And when I say K-Pops was funny, I mean K-Pops was hysterical. The audience I was part of laughed so hard. I nearly hit my head on the seat in front me because I was doubled over laughing at some jokes. We laughed so hard at one particular joke that .Paak said, after the screening, the audience literally startled him. This is that kind of ridiculous hilarity, every joke lands, that’s how well made this film is.
Now, I don’t know much about K-Pop, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying this film. In fact, I feel like I learned a few things about how these bands come up and are made. Granted, there’s something to be said about an American coming to Asia to find himself and make a name for himself in an Asian landscape, but .Paak has mixed heritage, and this adds a whole different dynamic to that storyline.
Music fans are in for a treat with K-Pops as there are cameos galore by American and K-Pop stars. One of the early generation of K-Pop phenoms, Kevin Woo, has a small role to play in this film. I wish his role had been bigger as his character was underbaked, and we could have done with a lot more devilish antics from his King Kang.
I am gobsmacked by this film. When the credits rolled, I clapped so hard my hands hurt. .Paak said that he’s still searching for a buyer for this film. That’s unbelievable to me. How has no one snatched up this film already? I mean, this is screaming to be on Netflix — isn’t that where most people find their K-dramas now? It will be a criminal waste for this film not to be widely seen by all.
I can’t recommend K-Pops highly enough. It’s a tour de force of passion, love, and music. And jokes. So many jokes. I am still laughing at the memory of some of them.
