In his 2007 biographical documentary, "Frank & Cindy," director G.J. Echternkamp chronicles the fickle and tumultuous relationship that exists between his mother, Cynthia (Cindy) Brown, and step-father, Frank Garcia. To attempt a completely unfulfilling summary, Frank was the bassist in the band OXO, an 1980s one-hit wonder, and Cindy gravitated towards him in hopes of living in the music industry induced lap of luxury, and married him on what is portrayed as an idyllic whim. While both had huge dreams for Frank’s musical career, it tanked with the dissolving of OXO, tearing the relationship down with it. From that point forward, both Frank and Cindy began to abuse alcohol and pills, while Cindy struggled to maintain mundane day jobs to support Frank’s continuing strife to make a career out of his music. Meanwhile, G.J. was taken in and out of his mother’s custody, and obviously was quite impacted by the goings-on, though still had the sheer intelligence to test out of high school. G.J.’s passion for film becomes a point of fixation for both Cindy and Frank, who both struggle throughout the documentary to clean up their act in an effort to get G.J. an education in film and connections in Hollywood.
The film itself instantly sucks viewers into the emotional hurricane that is unavoidable for the family in question; there are hard-hitting professions of true hatred, notions of self-parody and declarations of aspirations that will eternally remain just out of reach. At its core, I found the film to be truly heartbreaking, if only because everyone involved is just so self-aware of the exaggeratedly flawed existences they lead, but at the same time have firm attachments to the same pipe dreams that dragged them to the current point of constant and repetitive crises with each other and with the world around them. The family displays almost surprising amounts of intelligence, emotional awareness and connectivity, and a universally accepted sense of the necessity of art. Each of the aforementioned traits seems to manifest itself as an equal power in the personalities of both Frank and Cindy, which is a huge part of what makes the couple so captivating; it’s nearly impossible to keep up with thought processes and passions that drive the two individuals.
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What I find most intriguing about the personalities depicted in "Frank & Cindy" is the devotion that seems to still exist in an environment otherwise overflowing in negativity, often seeming like a verbal war zone. Despite their constant cutthroat arguments and legitimate plans to end their marriage, the couple often uses casual pet names throughout the film, and have moments where the relationship seems normal, at times bordering on positive. At the end of the day, they would give up nearly everything they have — which, granted, isn’t much — to do something to see G.J. succeed and accomplish the fame they so long sought after themselves, but I get the vibe that may not result strictly from parental guilt. Cindy spent over 20 years working to support Frank’s pursuit of art, before cracking down and asking him to get a more practical job, and even when he did, Frank’s love for music never stopped and he continued to pursue his passions, because he needed to in order to feel whole. Presumably, the mindsets of the two combined gave a unique recognition to G.J.’s passion for the cinematic arts, which could be a large part of what drove them so mad to see to it that G.J. could pursue success in his desired field, though he intends to succeed without their financial or connective help.
At the end of the film, there are quite a few questions left to be answered and quite a few opinions left to be formed. But, in a way, it isn’t quite as disappointing or as nerve wracking as the typical cliffhanger, simply because the viewer does not know how to feel, because nothing concrete was established about the true, unquestionable goals of anyone. Every element was so up and down or so unattainable or unrealistic that it could just be written off, but at the same time there is a feeling of wanting to see Frank and Cindy triumph, though it’s not quite clear what that would even mean.
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