Terrible! Horrible! Revolting!

Rating: 1/10 (18 August 1999)

I must say that when I sat down to watch Detroit Rock City, I was planning for a good evening of entertainment. I wanted to see a smart comedy that ranked up there with the intelligence and style of TV's "That 70's Show". I wanted comedy that made me feel guilty for laughing, like in "There's Something About Mary." I wanted this to be as edgy as the whole KISS phenomenon was in the movie's period.
I must admit, the first 45 minutes of the film is enjoyable. However, there is a turning point in the film where the characters turn from naieve and likable, to cruel, calculating and really unfriendly.
The fact that the characters become so distant from being likable ruins the movie. The payoff in the end isn't even worthwhile. The viewer is sitting there wanting the last 45 minutes of their life back.

There is only one bright spot in the movie. Lin Shaye (who played the riotous Magda in the above-fore-mentioned Mary) is a brilliant actress who plays a mom that you can't help but feel for. Lin is spectacular. Unfortunately, her character gets forgotten in the writing, with the mom having no closure in the film.
Rifkin leaves too many loose ends dangling at the end of Detroit Rock City, and this is the part that really upsets me. An excellent period piece on the 70's that could have been bright and fun ends up being a hodge-podge of scenes fused together with no rhyme, reason, or ending.