Edward Furlong in "Detroit Rock City."

MOVIE INFORMATION

With 10 as a must-see, we give this film a: Stars: Edward Furlong, Melanie Lynskey and Shannon Tweed Director: Adam Rifkin Rated: R, with profanity, violence and nudity Length: 95 minutes

ROCHESTERCRITIQUE

Having seen this film, how would you rate it? 10 5 9 4 8 3 7 2 6 1

By Marshall Fine
Democrat and Chronicle

(Aug. 13, 1999) -- Oh, those wacky '70s -- a decade when disco battled punk, even as head-banging fans of cartoon-rockers Kiss gave them all the finger.

Detroit Rock City means to celebrate that rebellious spirit in a comic way, but it manages to do so only sporadically. What could have been the goofy heavy-metal version of American Graffiti ends up as standard-issue boys-run-wild comedy with little to hold it together.

The boys at the center of this Adam Rifkin film are a quartet of Ohio pals who in 1978 spend their free time thrashing about in a basement, playing lame versions of Kiss songs while dreaming of the fast-approaching date when they'll get to see Kiss play in Detroit.

Hawk (Edward Furlong), Lex (Giuseppe Andrews), Jam (Sam Huntington) and Trip (James De Bello) figure life will be complete once they've actually seen Kiss frontman Gene Simmons spit blood in person.

But a formidable obstacle stands in their way: Jam's mother (Lin Shaye), a polyester-clad harpy who thinks Kiss plays the devil's music.

When she finds the boys' Kiss tickets in Jam's jacket, she promptly burns them, sending the four friends into a tailspin of despondency. But even as she is shipping Jam off to a forbidding boarding school, his three friends are scheming to find tickets and liberate their buddy for the trip to Detroit.

Written by Carl Dupre, Detroit Rock City is like a long series of sketches involving the four friends and their adventures, jointly and individually. But the writing is hit-and-miss, with a lot more misses than hits as the ticketless four reach Detroit and split up to try their luck at gaining entrance to the concert.

Their digressions range from the amusing (Hawk's foray into male stripping to win a cash prize to pay a scalper) to the unfunny (Trip's attempts to rob young concertgoers). While there are laughs (mostly of the gross-out variety), director Rifkin too often mistakes youthful exuberance for actual wit.

The young cast is engaging, but they're fighting an uphill battle with this often-flat material.

For a certain demographic, Detroit Rock City undoubtedly will bring back fond memories of youth. For everyone else, it will serve as a reminder of a musical era that's best left forgotten.