Joe Keery slacks his way to stardom as Stephen Malkmus in the Pavements teaser

Range Life isn’t a straightforward biopic; it’s a parody of one, which is a relief for anyone who thinks this first teaser has the air of a Funny Or Die video. Still, Keery is well cast as Malkmus, locking into that mop-topped ambivalence with, well, we can’t call it gusto, but it does look accurate.

Reviewing for The A.V. Club, writer Jesse Hassenger was mostly slanted and enchanted by the film. He writes: “There’s a certain thrill in a star-studded motion picture paying so much attention to a band that normally has to make do with the odd, thrilling reference from a mainstream movie. (Yes, the line about Malkmus from Barbie turns up here.) Perry captures the quietly prickly band dynamics without goading them into big drama—and then winks at that shambolic, sometimes-opaque quality with clips from Range Life that attempt to goose moments from the band’s career into exactly those kinds of conflicts.” The film still hasn’t set an official wide release, though it was acquired by Utopia last September.