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Driver 23

Thursday, February 7, 2013 - 8:00pm

There's a fine line between dreams and obsessions, and also, as Spinal Tap put it, between clever and stupid. All four of those states are personified in Dan Cleveland, Minneapolis delivery driver by day and leader of C-tier metal band Dark Horse by night. Over the course of Driver 23 and its sequel, Atlas Moth, filmmaker Rolf Belgum chronicles Cleveland's quixotic quest for rock glory. Cleveland's unstoppable drive and single-minded focus on his band are simultaneously absurd, heroic, and pathetic—in part because he often channels that energy into foolish projects like his wildly overcomplicated (and ultimately futile) pulley system for unloading band equipment from his basement. The half-full, tiny clubs don't bother him; half the band quitting doesn't bother him; he barely seems to realize his wife is leaving him. His relentless optimism goes hand-in-hand with an obsessive-compulsive streak requiring heavy dosages of Zoloft and Prozac, and the disquieting, oddly compelling question becomes inescapable: What is the dreamer if you take away his dream?