Grateful Deaf

It’s Los Angeles, the summer of 1968. A rock’n’roll Battle of the Bands is about to take place in Venice Beach. Featured in the lineup is Grateful Deaf -- an all-deaf band (yeah, that’s right). It will be their first time playing for a hearing audience, and their charismatic lead guitarist, Robert, is determined to bridge the deaf and hearing worlds through music. Robert lives rent-free with his deaf brother Joe, his wife Linda and their 3-year-old son. Robert does “work” at Joe’s shoe repair shop, where he generally shows up late, with his guitar in hand to practice during breaks. Which doesn’t go over big with Joe, who hates music, and especially doesn’t get why Robert would want to play for “stupid hearing people.” Plus, Joe owes back rent on his shop, and his imminent eviction does not seem to faze Robert at all. When Robert is late (as usual) to the band’s final rehearsal before the big Venice Beach show, one of the bandmates calls Joe’s house looking for Robert. Linda (also deaf) answers the phone. Since neither Linda nor the bandmate can hear that well over the phone, a back-and-forth misunderstanding prompts Linda to tell the brothers that their father has died of a heart attack. Suddenly, everything’s in chaos. Robert and Joe can’t reach their mother by phone, so the next morning, they set off on a road trip to comfort her at their childhood home in Morro Bay. But when they arrive, Mom is nowhere to be found. So there they are, in this house full of potent memories, without Mom to referee. The brothers go at it, and it’s not pretty. All the while, the clock’s ticking, as Robert’s big night – the Battle of the Bands in Venice Beach – will go on tonight, with or without him. As they say, life is full of surprises. And mysteries to solve: Where’s Mom? What happened to Dad? Can stupid hearing people really dig an all-deaf band? And yeah, it’s true, things can get royally mixed up, messed up and blown up. But if you keep on moving ahead – and just freakin’ show up – sometimes solving those mysteries turns out pretty damn good. (Spoiler alert: Robert finally cracks the mystery of showing up on time.)