Lights Out
Copyright (c) 1994, Bruce Diamond
All rights reserved


        Ŀ        
           AIRHEADS:  Richard Lehmann, director.  Rich Wilkes,     
           screenplay.  Starring Brendan Fraser, Steve Buscemi,    
           Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, Michael McKean, Judd Nel-   
           son, Michael Richards, Nina Siemaszko, Ernie Hudson,    
           Amy Locane, and Joe Mantegna.  Twentieth Century Fox.   
           Rated PG-13.                                            
        

          They're crazy, they're wacky, they're rock-n-rollers with
     Uzis.  Sure, the Uzis are really water guns filled with pepper
     spray, but the members of an unknown band, The Lone Rangers (how
     can there be more than one if you're "lone"?), do pull a wild-n-
     crazy stunt with them.  They hold up a radio station just to get
     their demo played on the air.  Every record company in town and
     several nightclubs have slammed the doors on this band, so
     hijacking the airwaves seems to make sense.  Only to the band, of
     course.

          Imagine Bill & Ted partnered with Pauly Shore.  Imagine the
     band from PCU (released earlier this year) actually getting air-
     play.  Imagine Weird Al Yankovic's music video parody of Nirvana
     being expanded to two hours.  Slice all of that sideways and
     serve it up as baloney, because that's what AIRHEADS, directed by
     Michael Lehmann, is made of:  a silly, non-vital view of today's
     music scene.  Brendan Fraser, Steve Buscemi and Adam Sandler star
     as the Gen X grunge-punk-post-wave rockers, and though the movie
     features fine work from such solid supporting cast members as Joe
     Mantegna, Ernie Hudson, Michael McKean, and Amy Locane, among
     others, the script wimps out by failing to really name names or
     expose specific industry practices.  To be a vital commentary on
     the contemporary scene, AIRHEADS' basic message should be more
     than, "It's really hard to break into the business."  Well, duh.
     Let me write that down.

          AIRHEADS for the most part is fun, watching three brain-dead
     dudes turn a simple bluff into a full-blown hostage situation
     with an army of cops, hordes of groupies, a SWAT team and real
     guns.  The situation goes from bad to worse, and it's obvious,
     painfully obvious, that these idiots hadn't thought things
     through.  Heck, to expect them to think in the first place is
     asking too much.  Director Michael Lehmann (HEATHERS, 1988) and
     screenwriter Rich Wilkes actually are asking us to identify with
     them, mistakenly portraying them as poor, downtrodden minimum-
     wage bums who just want a break.  Well, I'm sorry, but equating
     three goofs to heroes and giving them a happy ending kinda takes
     the edge off this movie.  It's part of the whole "getting what
     you deserve" philosophy that Lehmann danced with in HEATHERS but
     only flirts with here.  He wants to have it both ways, to
     criticize the industry and yet resolve AIRHEADS' dramatic dilemma
     with a Cinderella success story.  Face facts:  these guys aren't
     smart enough to handle the fame they want, which is shown every-
     time they open their mouths, by their actions at the radio
     station, and by their reactions when a real gun falls into their
     hands.  One moment Chazz (Fraser) is standing by his ideals --
     winning a record contract by the merit of their talents, not
     through the freak show cult of celebrity that's sprung up about
     them -- and the next moment he compromises just so his music can
     be heard.  The end becomes important, to hell with the moral
     implications of the means.

          Most of this film is lip service to rock and roll ideals, to
     personal integrity, and to defying authority.  In the end,
     AIRHEADS plays it just as safe as any Michael Bolton record.  I'm
     very disappointed that the first important movie to address '90s
     music doesn't have the *huevos* to follow up on its promise.  The
     music, and the supporting performances (especially the standout
     Mantegna as an aging rock-n-roll DJ, the only real bite to the
     movie) aren't enough of a backbone to prop the rest of the film
     on.

     RATING:  $$

