“Band on the Run” is a sweet little nothing of a roadtrip comedy where the “nothing” overwhelms the “sweet.”

It has its moments. Just not that many.

Writer-director Jeff Hupp set this tale at the end of the golden age of “indie,” when a band could dream of wrangling an invite to Austin, Texas and the chance to play for an audience that might deliver the prize that could change their fates and lives forever — a record deal.

Back in 1999, before it outgrew its original appeal, the South by Southwest Festival could deliver on those dreams.

Jesse (Matthew Perl) is such a dreamer. A downtrodden low-level functionary at a Detroit ad agency, Jesse’s watching his parents’ marriage come apart as his disabled, wheelchair bound dad (Larry Bagby) is half way to just giving up.

Jesse and his two Hot Freaks bandmates (Dylan Randazzo and Daniel Blair) fear they’ll “NEVER get out of here” if they don’t get that “South By” invite.

“Every band that matters will be there!”

That includes their nemesis, Bull Roar, a “gimmicky” two-piece hipster rock ensemble whose douche bro lead singer (Landon Tavernier) likes to drop snatches of Spanglish into his speech and who plays the “Do I know you?” card every chance he gets.

Both bands get invitations, with only one invited to “headline.” Both will drive South/Southwest to the festival in vans — one in a rented beater with a grump in a wheelchair onboard, the other in a lot more style, with their logo on it and everything.

Let the road trip hijinks begin.

There are mishaps, misadventures, moments of truth with Dad and pranks along the way — nothing that you’d figure was worthy of “going viral,” but that’s what the script ordains.

There’s barely a laugh in it, and even the bawdy ones provided by a stolen “magic” mike stand (the microphone spins turning vocals into a DIY special effect) and a hooker isn’t much.

The performances never quite lapse into “colorless,” but never rise above that, either.

With no comic edge and no music rights to anything anybody would care to hear twice, the “sweet” payoffs feel like cheats that nobody involved has earned.

Like the bands and indie films booked for South By, “Band on the Run” banks on potential. But it never lives up to it.

Rating: 16+, profanity, vulgarity

Cast: Matthew Perl, Larry Bagby, Landon Tavernier, Jessie Pettit, Dylan Randazzo, Jake Eberle and Daniel Blair.

Credits: Scripted and directed by Jeff Hupp, co-directed by Brian Cusac and Merritt Fritchie. A Freestyle release on Amazon Prime.

Running time: 1:28