Detroit Rock City (1999)

It's hard to call Detroit Rock City a "coming of age" movie--since it's hard to argue that any of the characters do any genuine growing up. But even though it's about four young metalheads trying to get to a KISS concert, the movie actually has more in common with sincere portraits of adolescence than it does with raucous teen comedies. The four heroes are members of a teen metal band called Mystery (the s is written in the same font as the letters of KISS, lest anyone mistake their source of inspiration). After the drummer's religiously zealous mother burns their tickets to a long-awaited concert in nearby Detroit, the boys go anyway and try to get tickets through theft, skullduggery, and entering a male stripper contest. The jokes are broad and the movie culminates in an orgy of male adolescent wish-fulfillment, but here and there some loving attention is paid to the details of 1970s teenage life--the haircuts, clothes, and toys the filmmakers probably had when they were kids. Edward Furlong, as the band's singer, is his usual scruffy self and exudes his particular lopsided charm; the rest of the cast play their parts with similar high spirits. Though Detroit Rock City was probably meant to be a no-holds-barred comedy in the vein of American Pie, the end result is curiously wistful; no one's going to mistake it for The Last Picture Show, but something sincere and elegiac lurks in those bang-covered eyes. --Bret Fetzer Amazon.com

2.5 stars out of 4

The Bottom Line:

A fairly forgettable comedy, Detroit Rock City will most likely appeal to fans of KISS or 17 year-old boys; it's not a bad film, but if you're not in its target demographic you have little reason to see it. December 27, 2008

great flick

As long time member of the Kiss army my self and my two teenage boys got a kick out of this film. It was funny the music was great!! July 24, 2008

Rock coming of age for teens

Hey, the comedy in this movie is more real than Kiss' music!
These kids are out to ruin their lives,
come bad smell, vomit or high water!
These are four very disturbed teens
on the loose at down town motor city.
Beat up and bent down, but not blue... April 24, 2008

smiley mart

I saw this movie on t.v. a few years ago and just fell in love with it. I love 60's-70's stuff, so I appreciated the clothes as well as the music. This movie is hilarious with scenes I can repeat from memory because I've watched it so many times. It's a good, kick-back movie to watch with friends. Totally awesome... December 8, 2007

Better Than You Would Expect

The four stoners in the leads recapture the late 70s very well. The adults, well, the decision to make them all wildly over-the-top cliches can be questioned. The religious mom is cringe-worthy, and the pre-pedophilia scandal send-ups of priests and the Catholic Church are prescient. The sound track is one of the movie's highlights, of course. Kiss's appearance at the end is anti-climactic. I never really laughed at anything in this, but that doesn't mean it's not an entertaining rental or a worthy library borrow. It brings back the '70s suburban wastelands very well. October 29, 2007

More reviews at Amazon.com ...