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Detroit Rock City - Theaters
Writer: Carl V. DupreDirector: Adam Rifkin Producer: Gene Simmons, Barry Levine, & Kathleen Haase Studio: New Line Characters: Hawk - Edward Furlong Trip - James DeBello Lex - Giuseppe Andrews Jam - Sam Huntington Review: Detroit Rock City was originally supposed to be released into theatres at roughly the same time as Star Wars: Episode I. After test scores proved to be very high for the film, New Line decided wisely to stall its opening until August. This was a good move, considering DRC's audience would definitely be the same as Star Wars. Detroit Rock City tells the story of four teenage KISS fans in 1978. KISS, for those of you who don't know, was at the height of their popularity in 1978, and Detroit was definitely THE place to see them that year. Essentially, the story follows the exploits of these youngsters as they lose their KISS tickets, regain their KISS tickets, only to lose them again...well, you get the idea. Basically, they're dying to get into the KISS show, and will do anything (and I mean ANYTHING) to get in. While trying to find a way into the show, all four characters go on a journey of self-discovery and exploration. Also, in a very nice and subtle touch, they all get kissed (KISS, kiss...get it?). Detroit Rock City does have a few problems. One of them would be the incredible coincidences which lead up to the comical moments in the film. At times the laughs feel forced because the plot has been driven toward the punch line like a freight train. The disadvantage to this is that it pulls you out of the movie. The advantage is that it keeps the movie flowing at an incredible pace. It moves from one elaborate set-up to the next, and is very enjoyable in the process. Another potential problem for some moviegoers would be the cartoonishness of some of the supporting characters. Two in particular, Elvis, the school security guard (?) and Jam's mother, seem particularly two-dimensional. They work to comic effect, but hinder the heart of the movie at times with their buffoonishness. As a comedy, though, the movie works. The audience I was with laughed heartily, and it's testament to the strength of the piece that I found myself enjoying it even thought I was in a theatre surrounded by Movie Theatre Morons (more on that in a bit). This film definitely fits into the teen movie genre, but it's a little strange in that it's a teen movie for a generation who were teens twenty years ago. It's like a nostalgia flick. Stand By Me for the heavy metal generation. The last thing about the movie itself, before I get into the moviegoing experience, is the camera work and editing. This film is a technical marvel. The camera swoops and flies and pans and cuts to amazing effect. Every single emotion the characters are feeling is represented in some of the most amazing camera work I have ever seen. Wow. OK. Last thing. My view of this movie would have been infinitely more positive if it hadn't been for the people in the theatre I saw it at. We went to a Tuesday night sneak preview, and paid the price dearly. We never go to films on Tightwad Tuesday because of the people who go to films on Tuesdays. You just get too many cheap people who are accustomed to renting videos from Blockbuster, and don't know how to behave in a courteous manner. Now, normally when films are sneak-previewed on a Tuesday, it's at full price, so that weeds most of the MTMs out. Sadly, the theatre we saw this film at decided to let people in at the Tightwad Tuesday price. To make matters worse, people who came in to see Detroit Rock City could also stay and watch The Blair Witch Project right afterward, so they could see two movies for one discounted price. This essentially filled the theatre with cheap, toothless idiots, who never shut up once throughout the whole film, and insisted on adding their own inane comments. Bravo to the filmmakers for making a movie good enough to overcome this crap. I look forward to seeing the film again with a REAL audience. And to all those MTMs out there, screw you. Sit down and shut up. Ken Pierce Dvdken@home.com Contributing Editor, www.dvdfuture.com |
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