Can I have one of those amps as well please!?

Rating: 8/10 (15 July 2000)

Oh this is a wonderful, wonderful film full of inventive humour, clever one-liners, good music and above all biting satire.
For those of us who can remember those heady rock years of the late 70s/80s this film will be even more poignant since it covers the fading fortunes of a glam rock band on its last legs touring an uninterested US pop culture. A lot of the gags, therefore, may go right over the heads of todays MTV hiphop dance generation but us oldsters can take a good guess where these guys are firing their lampoons at.
One of the infamous lines in the movie is "there's a very fine line between clever & stupid". But I also think the film itself is a very fine line between fiction & probable fact. I wonder how many real rock bands have suffered similar ignominy and find watching this film too close to the bone!
Another virtue is that the film doesn't have to try hard to get its message across; the actors don't really have to stretch themselves with concise scripts & acting ability - this is, afterall, supposed to be a fly-on-the-wall documentary where adlibbing is encouraged.
British TV company, Channel 4, produced a similar tv movie called "Bad News on Tour" by The Comic Strip,at around the same time, and although it probably never reached the States it too is very very funny and follows the same kind of adlib roadie logic of its bigger brother. The only difference is that the subtle lampooning is never made so obvious, but its a good film to add to this kind of rockumentary collective.
The only shocking thing is the length of the film - barely 80 minutes. Blink and its almost over. I suppose the producers & director Reiner didn't originally have high hopes of box office success & cult status so it was a movie made very much on the defensive I guess, which is a real shame. Just when we're beginning to really know these guys the movie is over and we end up like Oliver Twist, desperately asking for more!
And yes, those immortal words "This amp goes up to 11" should be recognised with equal merit alongside "Frankly, my dear....", "Play it again, Sam..." and "May the force....".

An excellent groupie film for those who like to reflect on those heady days of nostalgia & big flares! ****/*****