[255D
Lights Out
Copyright (c) 1994, Bruce Diamond
All rights reserved


[8C[0;1;34mĿ
[8C   [33mAIRHEADS:  [32mRichard Lehmann, director.  Rich Wilkes,[5C[34m
[8C   [32mscreenplay.  Starring Brendan Fraser, Steve Buscemi,    [34m
[8C   [32mAdam Sandler, Chris Farley, Michael McKean, Judd Nel-   [34m
[8C   [32mson, Michael Richards, Nina Siemaszko, Ernie Hudson,    [34m
[8C   [32mAmy Locane, and Joe Mantegna.  Twentieth Century Fox.   [34m
[8C   [32mRated PG-13.[44C[34m
[8C

[10C[36mThey're crazy, they're wacky, they're rock-n-rollers with
[5CUzis.  Sure, the Uzis are really water guns filled with pepper
[5Cspray, but the members of an unknown band, The Lone Rangers (how
[5Ccan there be more than one if you're "lone"?), do pull a wild-n-
[5Ccrazy stunt with them.  They hold up a radio station just to get
[5Ctheir demo played on the air.  Every record company in town and
[5Cseveral nightclubs have slammed the doors on this band, so
[5Chijacking the airwaves seems to make sense.  Only to the band, of
[5Ccourse.

[10CImagine Bill & Ted partnered with Pauly Shore.  Imagine the
[5Cband from [33mPCU [36m(released earlier this year) actually getting air-
[5Cplay.  Imagine Weird Al Yankovic's music video parody of Nirvana
[5Cbeing expanded to two hours.  Slice all of that sideways and
[5Cserve it up as baloney, because that's what [33mAIRHEADS[36m, directed by
[5CMichael Lehmann, is made of:  a silly, non-vital view of today's
[5Cmusic scene.  Brendan Fraser, Steve Buscemi and Adam Sandler star
[5Cas the Gen X grunge-punk-post-wave rockers, and though the movie
[5Cfeatures fine work from such solid supporting cast members as Joe
[5CMantegna, Ernie Hudson, Michael McKean, and Amy Locane, among
[5Cothers, the script wimps out by failing to really name names or
[5Cexpose specific industry practices.  To be a vital commentary on
[5Cthe contemporary scene, [33mAIRHEADS[36m' basic message should be more
[5Cthan, "It's really hard to break into the business."  Well, duh.
[5CLet me write that down.

[10C[33mAIRHEADS [36mfor the most part is fun, watching three brain-dead
[5Cdudes turn a simple bluff into a full-blown hostage situation
[5Cwith an army of cops, hordes of groupies, a SWAT team and real
[5Cguns.  The situation goes from bad to worse, and it's obvious,
[5Cpainfully obvious, that these idiots hadn't thought things
[5Cthrough.  Heck, to expect them to think in the first place is
[5Casking too much.  Director Michael Lehmann ([33mHEATHERS[36m, [37m1988[36m) and
[5Cscreenwriter Rich Wilkes actually are asking us to identify with
[5Cthem, mistakenly portraying them as poor, downtrodden minimum-
[5Cwage bums who just want a break.  Well, I'm sorry, but equating
[5Cthree goofs to heroes and giving them a happy ending kinda takes
[5Cthe edge off this movie.  It's part of the whole "getting what
[5Cyou deserve" philosophy that Lehmann danced with in [33mHEATHERS [36mbut
[5Conly flirts with here.  He wants to have it both ways, to
[5Ccriticize the industry and yet resolve [33mAIRHEADS[36m' dramatic dilemma
[5Cwith a Cinderella success story.  Face facts:  these guys aren't
[5Csmart enough to handle the fame they want, which is shown every-
[5Ctime they open their mouths, by their actions at the radio
[5Cstation, and by their reactions when a real gun falls into their
[5Chands.  One moment Chazz (Fraser) is standing by his ideals --
[5Cwinning a record contract by the merit of their talents, not
[5Cthrough the freak show cult of celebrity that's sprung up about
[5Cthem -- and the next moment he compromises just so his music can
[5Cbe heard.  The end becomes important, to hell with the moral
[5Cimplications of the means.

[10CMost of this film is lip service to rock and roll ideals, to
[5Cpersonal integrity, and to defying authority.  In the end,
[5C[33mAIRHEADS [36mplays it just as safe as any Michael Bolton record.  I'm
[5Cvery disappointed that the first important movie to address '90s
[5Cmusic doesn't have the *huevos* to follow up on its promise.  The
[5Cmusic, and the supporting performances (especially the standout
[5CMantegna as an aging rock-n-roll DJ, the only real bite to the
[5Cmovie) aren't enough of a backbone to prop the rest of the film
[5Con.

[5C[32mRATING:  [37m$$[0m
