Four airheaded rock 'n' roll fans from Ohio try to earn tickets to a Detroit KISS show, in this comic nostalgia piece set in 1978. You can't expect much from a movie centered on KISS, a band which has never been "about" anything except the primitive zest of rock 'n' roll (if you actually believe the rumor that their name is an acronym for Knights in Satan's Service, you're advised to return to your Pat Boone records ASAP), but this movie doesn't even hit its exceedingly modest goals.The lamer-than-usual plot merely strings together a series of comic situations, few of which are even moderately funny. I got tired of counting all the dopey contrivances (didn't the KISS tour stop through Ohio?), and let's not talk about the whole idea of being hellbent to get into a town where the locals walk around with T-shirts reading Detroit: where the weak are killed and eaten. Also, speaking as someone who was stuck in Detroit Rock City back in 1978, I'm disappointed by the absence of period detail--outside of a few references to disco and Cobo Hall, it's pretty much just Another Teen Comedy.
The editing is pretty bad, with way too many cuts; it's irritating to keep jumping from one character to another during the dialogue scenes. Director Adam Rifkin keeps employing gimmicks like split screens and unnecessary zooms, like he's trying to impress his film school professor.
At least you get a good rock soundtrack, split between KISS tracks and the some of the better shake-your-fist tunes of the '70s. You also get the dubious pleasure of seeing porn star Ron Jeremy in a brief role as a tacky emcee. He keeps his clothes on, too.What could conceivably have been a nice coming of age film turns out to be simply a by-the-numbers comedy. Even KISS deserves a better movie than this.
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