Search - Roadie on DVD

One of the Greatest and Funniest Road Films Every Made

Bob Barr | New Orleans, LA USA | 03/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There is a lot of silly rubbish about this film scattered all over the Internet. Most of the time when I read a review of "Roadie" I wonder if the critic even bothered to see the film before they wrote about it (see above). Unlike most other critics, I have seen Roadie, and I promise--with certain reservations--that it is a very funny and very entertaining movie.

As an older man with a nervous disposition who has enough trouble sitting through many new movies once, The ultimate tribute I can give this great "on the road" rock'n'roll saga is that I watched it numerous times when it was on cable in 1981. Since then, I have watched it several dozens of times on VHS, and now that it's on DVD, I have watched it several times again. You can put a lot of mileage on this road movie. In a day when you build whole relationship with and around movies in your personal collection, that kind of stamina in a movie is critical.

The film has a rock'n'roll backdrop--a backdrop we rarely see from the workingman's eye the way we do here. There are no star turns in the film, at least none in the late 1970's early 1980's tradition. Rock is shown as hard work, and generally the product of blue collar hands (a view I agree with). The movie gives us what amounts to real-world views of several 70's favorites (Meatloaf, Alice Cooper, Blondie, etc.).

The movie has a great premise, the howling self-reliant "Everything Works If You Let It" theme. It also enjoys a background soundtrack that fires on all twelve cylinders. But what keeps me watching the film is that it is really funny in an honest, straight-forward way that we have enjoyed far too seldom since Hollywood started grinding out its cookie-cutter "farces" in the wake of "Airplane." The dual surprises of the film are the really solid performances put in by Alice Cooper and Meatloaf in their respective roles as rock star and roadie. I am unqualified in my admiration of this movie, but I will tightly qualify the people to whom I would suggest the film. This is a "cult" movie in the most real sense of the word and anyone who is made nervous by rock music, farce that is outside of the "Scary Movie"/"Naked Gun" mainstream, or three-hundred pound leading men (Meatloaf) should avoid this movie at all costs. Also, there is a certain good ol' boy mentality at work here that will not play for some parts of the audience. But to the core audience of the film, these are not qualifications, they are recommendations. The thing I am saddest about is that the movie's soundtrack is no longer available. The soundtrack was worth having simply for the long and messy "Brainlock" which plays during one of the few really funny car chases in the history of film.

Of course Meatloaf is the bomb, and you want to believe in the reality of his character, the astoundingly competent Travis W. Redfish. Sadly, there is no Redfish in the real world, but you'll wish there was, and there probably should be.

Art Carney plays Daddy Redfish, and steals every scene in which he appears. Alice Cooper plays himself (as always) and is great. In fact, all the walk-ons and cameos are amazing.

But the amazing presence in the film is Kaki Hunter's portrayal of Lola Bouillabaisse. The Lola character is a train wreck, a disaster area, a four alarm fire. She is our worst nightmare on a blind date, but the screenplay needs her to be that disaster. If Lola had been played by a different kind of female, or had she been played as an attractive girl, the part, and probably the film would have been ruined. Hunter actually holds her own against her mighty co-stars in the film. She is amazing.

Note: a movie that is equally funny and from the same time period, and sharing roughly the same theme is Roger Corman's "Rock and Roll High School.""

I Love This Silly Movie

Ellen D. Jorgensen | New York, NY United States | 07/06/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"From the ambulatory phone booth to a candlelight dinner with The Snake, this just tickled my funny bone. Art Carney was great, and I loved Meat Loaf as the star-crossed lover. Yes, it's cheap, yes, it's campy, but I have been looking for the damn thing for like 20 years, and I am SO happy they finally re-released it. For years all I had was the soundtrack, which is quite good- look at all the musicians in the darn movie! Ooohhh, I'm drivin' my life away...."

Corny, but fun.

Ellen D. Jorgensen | 11/28/1998

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you are a big Meat Loaf fan as I am, this movie is a real hoot. The music's pretty good, but just seeing the bizarre ways they make things work is a lot of fun. DO NOT watch this movie as serious cinema."