Pretty, but nothing of substance to offer.

Rating: Null/10 (8 April 1999)

I was very excited to see this film, as I am a fan of the glam rock era, but I found myself disappointed, disjointed and finally, underwhelmed at this frivolous look at a mesmerizing time in rock history. It is sad to note that this era had real melodrama to spare and this film only showed us superficial extended MTV videos, peppered with a few VH 1 "Behind the Scenes" style testimonials. It doesn't help that, where it might have benefited from paying homage to a "Citizen Kane" style of storytelling (an overused comparison I feel is unfair to the classic film) instead it does a rip-off of the film "Eddie and the Cruisers," a film which is a schlocky one without as much effort to appear inspired by anything. Why people think Todd Haynes has any vision more than employing a magnificent cinematographer is beyond me. It is obvious to me that he simply cashes in on what others appear to be interested in with little or no research into the matter and runs with it. Here, as in his film "Safe" where he explores the fascination with new age fears of environmental "diseases," he doesn't delve deeply, gets loads of information wrong and ultimately answers no questions. This would not be a problem if he made the story the least bit believable or interesting, which he does not.