Average Community: A Film for the All-Ages Crowd

Most people do not set about the task of facing their past demons with thoughts of someday turning their exploits into a documentary film. And yet, those that do so with honesty and integrity usually end up with a compelling story that finds a universal theme for all of us. The Zara brothers: Fred, Chris and Joe achieve a bittersweet peace by documenting a difficult journey in which the brothers grapple with a tough past and its effects on an uncertain future. The gritty streets of Trenton, New Jersey serve as the backdrop for Average Community, with the city looming as a larger-than-life character while each brother returns after years of exile to the city they called home through their formative days. The journey starts with youngest brother Fred, an aspiring filmmaker and family man who is searching for understanding and trying to make peace with the city that raised him.

Growing up in Trenton in the 80s was tough; Trenton was a failing city whose many manufacturing jobs had all but disappeared and left an empty and decrepit urban landscape for the Zara brothers to navigate. They responded by forming a Punk Rock band called Prisoners of War. P.O.W. was originally called Average Community and the film shows several cam-corder shots of the band performing at various venues in the New Jersey Punk scene. All three brothers comprised the band and the sheer joy of performing are clear through these videos. One such piece of footage presents a funny view of P.O.W as they played their one and only gig at Trenton's legendary City Gardens club.

Throughout their respective childhoods music was the one constant all three shared. In it they found a scene full of characters and friends; some of which are focal points for the brothers' return to Trenton. There was Sam "Psycho" Latini and Dave "Disgusting." For those who grew up in similar scenes around the same time these characters were the same friends you hung out with: the funny kid who also had a dark side or that slightly "weird" kid who idolized G.G Allin and was kind of scary but still a loyal friend. Part of the journey includes a reunion with former bass player Sam as well as an exhaustive search to find the elusive Dave Disgusting who, at one point, was homeless on the streets of Philadelphia. Both sidebars add to the overall drama of the story, as does a very intense interview with an old friend's mother.

What begins with a trip back home to participate in Trenton's film festival quickly becomes a compulsive reunion for the brothers and their former selves. Throughout the course of the film all three confront the effects of their upbringing and its reverberations throughout their lives. Drug abuse, existential questionings, and the nostalgia of "back in the day" are constant themes as the trio intersperses present footage with childhood pictures of wild, anarchistic days.

The world-famous "Trenton Makes" bridge

Average Community is full of emotional twists and turns; its concurrent story lines are compelling and alternately funny and sad. It is a poignant tale of three regular guys finding out just how much of an overwhelming influence the past has on their present lives. Fred, who narrates the film, pulls no punches when talking about his past and the city of Trenton. He is brutally honest in his evaluations of both himself and Trenton; fully realizing how integrally the two are entwined. At times the film is hard to watch because of its unflinching, unblinking honesty and ability to expose the rawness of life's trials. But that only adds to the film's galvanizing ability to make one look upon their own life in the same reflective way. Fred's anger and bewilderment are evident as he faces the streets he once called home. At times he is overly bitter in his assessment of his hometown, but, in the end finds a redemptive peace with what had such important influence in the molding of his life. Average Community draws the viewer in because there are so many universal themes here for a generation that grew up broken, hopeless and angry; regardless of where they were born.