Detroit Rock City
D: Adam Rifkin (1999); with Edward Furlong, Giuseppe Andrews, Sam Huntington, James DeBello. For a while, it seemed that dumb teen comedies were an endangered species. Considering the popular (but unrealistic) John Hughes efforts of the Eighties, the film industry avoided movies that depicted kids in anything but a mature, sympathetic light. Thanks to such tasteless efforts as American Pie, the teen B-film is back in full force. Detroit Rock City is a prime example of how the genre has reverted to its old ways, exploring young males’ obsessions with sex, drugs, and rock & roll. And what better vehicle to exploit such topics but a film about a Kiss concert? The film centers on four teenage fanatics who are in a Kiss cover band and have every piece of the band’s memorabilia available on the market. Most importantly, they have tickets to the big concert in Detroit. Trouble comes in the form of a fundamentalist parent, who burns their precious concert tickets. Before you can say “road trip,” a journey to Detroit is under way to find a way into the show. Each of the characters goes on individual adventures to score tickets. The funniest is when Hawk (Furlong) enters a male stripper contest. Lots of pot-smoking scenes, cool car tunes, one awful vomit sequence, and plenty of situational comedy. Dumb as hell, but then again, so is much of the music made by Kiss. Given that, it fits together nicely. Throw in some memorable characters, funny dialogue, and the ludicrous plot, and you get a solid Saturday night rental. Despite the Seventies setting, the focus is clearly on the spirit of youth and rock music in general, which makes it instantly appealing. That aside, this may be the closest anyone’s come to the Alan Arkush/Roger Corman epic Rock ‘n’ Roll High School. High praise, indeed.This article appears in June 30 • 2000.