Airheads

Staring: Brendan Fraser, Steve Buschemi, Adam Sandler, Chris Farley, Michael Richards, Joe Montegna

Review by The Ranting WolfCastle

    There are hardly any original plots for comedies now days.   They all seem to be the same thing with different characters.  Airheads is a pretty original film.  Most comedies about bands are how they "make it" in the business, and have to overcome different obstacles, like clashing band members, or con men agents.  But Airheads is about a band that just wants to be heard.

    Brendan Fraser (Encino Man, George of the Jungle) stars as Chaz, the leading member of "The Lone Rangers."  His backups include Steve Buschemi (Armageddon, Con Air) on bass, and Adam Sandler (Happy Gilmore, Water Boy) playing the drums.  Chaz wants nothing more than for he and his band to be heard.  He thinks all he has to do is get some play time on the air, and he'll get signed.  After failed attempts sneaking into Palatine Records, "The Lone Rangers" break into the local hard rock radio station.  During the confusion of trying to get the D.J. (Joe Montegna) to play their song, The three pull realistic looking toy guns (from the store where Buscemi's character works) and hold up the radio station.   Before they know it, they are in over their heads.  Now the police have arrived and the band members are suddenly criminals.  But all they want is to get some air time.  Sounds simple enough, but the demo tape gets eaten.  So they have to figure out a way to get another tape to the station, and become famous.

    The thing about a lot of movies about bands, is you get sick of the song they play, That Thing You Do comes to mind.  The good thing about this movie, is they don't force the song down your throat.  You really only hear parts of it, until the very end.  Good thing too, because the song really isn't that good.   The reason you don't get to hear the song is actually kind of annoying.   Everything in the radio station keeps breaking, it gets to be tedious and repetitive.  I get so sick of nothing going right, but such as life I suppose.

    Airheads is a funny, entertaining movie.  But it's really not as funny as it could've been.  Adam Sandler and Chris Farly are under used, especially since they are just about the only real comedians in the film.   There are a couple good lines embedded in the commotion, but overall it just should've been funnier.  There is a little comical parody on hostage movies, when the tough SWAT team leader is on the phone, sharing his personal stories in a bonding moment with Michael Richards, who is hiding in the air vents.  But I'm not sure if they meant it to be.  The funniest parts are Adam Sandler, but he plays a nimrod type character that gets a bit old.  The rest of the people just don't seem very funny to me, I don't know if it's the writing or the acting, but nothing really came off as funny.   Weird huh?

    I also didn't like all the 90's buzz words, like "Dude" and things of that nature.  It just isn't natural for Brendan Frazer, whom I always see as the School Ties character, to say things like, "Dude are you an executive or something?"  He even uses a stoner type voice (though not through the whole movie) and it seems like they try to make him a smart man.  It's kind of hard to act smart when you're the definition of a stereotype for a "dude in a band."   Steve Buschemi is a good actor, and I think he plays his part really well, the only thing is I don't like his character.  He's obnoxious and plays an even more exaggerated "dude in a band."  Joe Montegna is also good, but I don't know if they cast the right type of guy to play a D.J. at a hard rock station.  He talks about classic rock in the seventies being more intelligent than modern rock, but then in the end he can be seen doing a fifties swim type dance.  Like Frazer, I always picture Montegna in smart roles, here he plays a burnt out tweaker.  I guess it's good to test your limits as an actor, but I think there are some boundaries you just shouldn't cross.

    Overall, it's entertaining, and it can't be more than a couple of bucks at the video store, so I guess it's worth the money.  There are some good lines, but the characters are fabricated.  Probably the best line is "I ain't fartin' on no snare drum."  And see if you can find the almost hidden, "All those blow jobs for nothing."  Not a bad movie, just not a great one by any means.

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