Satisfaction

Plot synopsis:
Jennie Lee (Justine Bateman) is the lead singer of an all-girl rock band in Baltimore named The Mystery. At her high school graduation, Jennie gives her valedictorian speech at the ceremony while fellow band member, bass guitarist Daryle (Julia Roberts) is accepting a marriage proposal from her high school sweetheart Frankie. Jennie and the band are planning to go to Florida to audition for a gig at the beach for the summer. However problems seem to plague their plans when, first Jennie’s older brother (and caretaker) doesn’t want to let Jennie go because he feels it will dissuade her from continuing her college plans; second, the band’s keyboardist has unexpectedly left the band, and third, Mooch (the drummer) insulted a gang member who then in turn destroyed the band's van. Mooch (Trini Alvarado) tells the band that she borrowed another van from her friend but in fact, assisted by the help of guitarist Billy (Britta Phillips), stole the gang member's personal van. After recruiting a male keyboard player Nickie (Scott Coffey), the band heads south to audition for the gig. Arriving at the nightclub after closing hours, the band fears they have missed their audition. Not wanting to have to return, the band finds the owner Martin Falcon’s (Liam Neeson) home address and decide to make him listen to them play. However, when they arrive at his beach house, they let themselves in and find Falcon is not home. They do find Hamlet, Falcon’s pet Doberman Pincher dog, who, after Billy sings him a song, becomes fast friends with the band. Falcon arrives, drunk and assumes the band are thieves. Explaining who they are, Jennie pleads with Falcon to listen to their music, but Falcon informs them that they are in fact a day early, the auditions for the gig isn’t until the next night. Having very little money and no place to stay, Falcon offers them the room that the winners are supposed to be staying at for the summer. The “room” turns out to be a tool shack with room enough for 5 beds. The next night, the band auditions and the overwhelming applauding crowd response convinces Falcon to hire the band for the summer.
The band members stick out like a sore thumb in the preppy beach side area they temporarily reside in, especially Mooch, who refuses to take off her black leather jacket, although the weather is hot. Daryle (who has broken up with Frankie) started dating a local rich boy and tried to get the band invited to his parties. Billy, outside her comfort zone, started taking more pills than usual to cope with her depression. Jennie encouraged Mooch to spend time with Nicky, who seemed to have a crush on her and Jennie began a romantic relationship with the older Falcon. Falcon tells Jennie he has a music agent friend who books bands for gigs all over Europe, and is going to be coming to the club to watch the band perform. Falcon, after learning from Jennie that she is considering moving in with him, breaks up with Jennie because he doesn’t want her to give up any opportunities because of him. Billy nearly overdoses and Frankie causes a small riot when he goes to the club and sees Daryle on stage being ogled by the local guys.
On the night the music agent goes to the club, Jennie runs out just after performing a song written by Falcon especially for the band and the street gang finally catches up with Mooch for stealing their van. The band all help out Mooch as she fights off the leader and finally Hamlet the dog chases the gang from the club, who are then arrested. When asked about what the music agent said, Jennie implies that the agent loved their music but she turned down his offer for the band to play in European clubs. Upset with Jennie that she would turn down such a huge opportunity, Nicky explains to the rest of the band that the music agent did not want the band, he only wanted Jennie to stand in front of studio musicians. But Jennie decides that it wouldn’t have been any fun without them. Jennie says goodbye to Falcon and the band heads home with Hamlet now a part of the band.

Tags: romantic

Review:
DVD picture quality isn't the greatest but all that teen angst is awesome and Justine Bateman still rocks.
Was a bit surprised to see Julia Roberts who I had no recollection of but Liam Neeson is probably the reason I ended up living in Europe.
Watch some big 80s hair and funny girl band stuff.
Couldn't get over Julia Roberts in this movie dressed similarly to the way she was dressed in Pretty Woman.I loved it and definitely recommend it for feel good flash backs..
This movie is fun to go back and watch now, with all of its cast who have gone on to further their careers..
It's a really fun film about a girl band trying to "make it" and facing all the dilemmas that can pop up when a bands just starting to get a feel for themselves and their music.
However, seeing Julia Roberts and Liam Neeson in early roles before they were big stars makes it worthwhile.
So this is not one of the best movies from the '80s, but it made a big impact on me because of Julia Roberts.
I thought she was so cool, and I copied a lot of my fashion styles after her character in the movie (big hair and all).
It has some really good moments and good one-liners, like when Julia Roberts' character, Daryle is told by one of the preppy guys she's seeing "You're different from the other girls", she responds "I can work really hard to be the same", or when Daryle is explaining to Billy that getting married is a natural thing, Billy responds "Dying is natural too, but you don't see people rushing to do that".
So if you want to take a trip back to the '80s or if you're a Julia Roberts fan, this movie is for you..
A bubblegum movie that makes bubblegum seem like a bad idea.
The rock-loving teens in this movie don't seem to know anything about making music.
The movie wants to have it both ways: be a modern look at streetwise teens and yet also be an old-fashioned musical.
Justine Bateman works hard in the leading role, but she seems to suffocate under the plastic handling; newcomer Julia Roberts shows off a nice sense of sarcastic humor, but the movie is an underachiever, with oldies-rock tunes given '80s makeovers that wouldn't pass muster on Star Search.
I left not really wanting to know about what happens too the band, or their love interest.
One thing I would like to do before I die is find out who it was that told Justine Bateman she could sing and slap that person into a coma.
And what Hollywood studio cretin thought Liam Neeson and Justine Bateman would be a good romantic pair?
I've seen more sparks coming from a thoroughly wet sparkler!Lets see, in "Satisfaction" we've got the usual group of teen girl stereotypes with Julia Roberts in her first credited roll as Daryle, (the Loose Girl), Trini Alvarado as Mooch (the Tough Girl) and Britta Phillips as Billy (the Crazy Girl).
Throw them into a retreaded plot from "Where The Boys Are" and set it all on the ugliest beach on either coast and you've got a good idea what this mess is like.Or better yet, just hit yourself in the face with a cookie sheet for 92 minutes.
I was pretty sure, when I saw that Liam, Julia and Justine Bateman in a movie together, it was going to be somewhat decent.
This movie was like a two way portal, ala some violent mirror in which I saw myself poking my eyes out with icepicks through the television screen to stop the pain.Justine was just awful at singing, the Benny Hill, fast forward scene at the beach just made me cringe from head to toe and every concert scene was just.....well, can you guess the remorseful, disgusting feelings I have towards this movie.I sat through this, I climbed this treacherous journey from the base camp to the pinnacle on a mountain from hell, so you don't have too.
You have to like rock music to enjoy this flick.
It's too bad that this movie was considered a failure because it didn't catapult Bateman to (fellow Family Ties) Fox's level of fame.
After graduation and a fast escape from city life a rock and roll band of friends: Jennie Lee, Mooch, Nickie, Billy, and Daryle(Julia Roberts) visit the coast for the summer.
The Girls fall in and out of love, The music rocks but the singing never dies it just moves on!
Think of everything that could be wrong with a film, triple these things, cover them with a coat of raw sewage then set them on fire and you will have a piece of charbroiled pigslop called "Satisfaction".
If you've always suspected that combining elements from "Times Square" (1980), "Josie and the Pussycats" (2001), and "Summer of '42" (1971) would be an extremely bad idea, look no further than "Satisfaction" for confirmation.
Although "Times Square" fans (the film from which "Satisfaction" steals the most) will frequently cringe during the viewing experience, the fusion of these three films is not a totally bad idea.
It did give Trini Alvarado, eight years later, a chance to play the tough girl Nicky Marotta part, the character she played against in "Times Square".
A much better idea that might have saved the film would have been for her and co-star Justin Bateman to switch parts.
Bateman is capable of looking mean and is really too limited as an actress for a part with the degree of dimensionality of Jennie Lee. I've never quite grasped the popularity of Julia Roberts but for her mega-fans "Satisfaction" is a must see.
Of course there is some retrospective perverse amusement to be had at the idea of Roberts and Liam Neeson playing second banana's to the talent challenged Bateman, Britta Phillips' career rocketed forward from this film with 65 episodes as the voice of the title character in "Jem and the Holograms".
Although full of terrible music (covers of classic rock tunes performed slightly worse than when arranged for your high school band's halftime show) the film did connect with its primary target audience, discontented teenage girls who were not so disillusioned that they could not still get off on an identification jag with a group of squeaky clean girl rockers.
The music, the situations the girls get themselves into make it a movie that will cheer you up if you are feeling down.
I gave this '80s classic an 8, just because of the sheer fun of the movie and the cool characters within it..
Recent graduate Jennie Lee (Justine Bateman) is the lead singer of her band Mystery.
It's amazing to see Roberts and Neeson as well as 80's stars Bateman and Alvarado.
WHAT A GIRL ROCK BAND SHOULD BE!.
SATISFACTION is quite possibly the best "girl band makes it big" film ever.
The Spice Girls could definitly take a lesson or two from the girls of Mystery, which includes Family Ties starlet Justine Bateman and Academy Award Winner Julia Roberts.
These girls have it all, and Bateman sure can play a mean cowbell in their cover of Knock On Wood.
The music is great (again maintain perspective here, it is a fun, not serious, 80s movie) and I wish they had a soundtrack.
Seeing Malory from Family ties (lead singer) and Julia Roberts as a younger actress brings back so many memories!Great movie to watch with girlfriends on a Friday night or with your big/little sister to go back in time for an hour and a half..
Fox's successful jump from "Family Ties" to the big screen made Justine Bateman a marketable commodity as well in this small and really totally unimpressive quick-flick.
Bateman is the head of a small rock band that gets a gig in a bar in California and naturally Bateman falls in love with a then-unknown Liam Neeson.
Julia Roberts is also along for the ride as one of the girls in Bateman's band.
Watching Neeson and Roberts in this mess is really interesting, but they were not stars yet and in the end "Satisfaction" cannot boost past the dreaded bomb status.
It's just about leaning back, enjoying some good music and Liam Neeson's Irish accent.
I enjoyed watching it more than I would have expected from IMDb's average rating, and I got to like all of the main characters.
After all, the quality of this movie is still much higher than more recent teenage comedies in the likes of American Pie which only make jokes about sex or disgusting things.
It's not the kind of movie I would watch many times, but I recommend everyone to watch it once who likes to see a teenage comedy without American Pie humour..
Justine Bateman, Julia Roberts and Liam Neeson star in this undemanding, feel-good frolic about an (almost) all-girl rock band 'Mystery' band and their adventures and heartbreak.
Bateman's character Jennie Lee fronts a rock band, playing lots of well-known cover versions, including the rolling stones song of the film's title...
They spend a summer by the sea, playing at a club owned by Liam Neeson's songwriter-fallen-on-hard-times.
Bateman and Neeson's characters get briefly romantically entwined and Julia Roberts' character is looking for a man with some money!
Fun Music Movie.
I'm a sucker for all music/group oriented movies since I played in a band since I was 14.
This one is definitely not in the class of "The Commitments" but it is MUSIC and it is FUN.My wife did not believe me that that was Julia Roberts in the movie but I checked IMDb and proved it.
Justine Bateman may have been a ditz in Family Ties but does a credible job as the band leader in this movie.The other attraction is the beach venue.
Come a long way since Family Ties to this movie where her abilities in winning a crowd with her musical motion that rivals that of almost any in the rock/wiggle world today.The rest of the cast is excellent, Julia Roberts is a ray of sunshine, and Liam is superior as usual, but the Big Ticket is Justine.
If you are debating which coming of age girl movie, which music movie, which overcoming love flick to view .
Well, a rock'n'roll movie rarely has a viable plot, and this one is no exception.
But who watches a rock movie for the plot?
The band members in Satisfaction are great looking, to be sure.
The movie itself is worth seeing just to enjoy Justine Bateman's performance as the lead singer.
Additionally, Britta Phillips does a great job with "Mr. Big Stuff." It's rock'n'roll..
Mainly watched to see Liam Neeson before Schindlers List and Rob Roy, and Julia Roberts before everything she ever did.
They're good, in a mediocre film about a girl band and the trials and tribulations within it.
Would I have watched this film without Liam and Julia?
SatisfactionThe difference between male and female rock-stars is that women form meaningful relationships with their groupies.However, the songstress in this drama has developed feelings for a nightclub owner.The minute high school is over Jennie (Justine Bateman) and her band The Mystery (Julia Roberts, Britta Phillips, Trini Alvarado) head to Florida in a stolen van to audition for Martin Falcon (Liam Neeson), a bar owner in need of performers for the summer.While they get the position, over the summer the band starts to drift apart as some members fall in love with locals and others overdose on drugs.Everything calumniates when the owners of the stole van show up.Produced by Aaron Spelling, Satisfaction has all of the earmarks of the successful television show creator but for some reason those elements do not elevate this mediocre musical misadventure.Interestingly enough, all-girl house bands boast the lowest bar tabs.Red Lightvidiotreviews.blogspot.ca.
SATISFACTION is not a great movie by any shakes, but taken for what it was meant to be - a slightly naive tale of a girls' band that has a summer of adventure, love and opportunity for the big time nut opts instead to become just a group of life-long friends - it is a well done bit of pastiche.
The band consists of leader Justine Bateman with Trini Alvarado, Britta Phillips, Scott Coffey as the token male, Deborah Harry and yes, the movie debut of Julia Roberts!
Liam Neeson serves as the love interest for Justine Bateman's character and Michael DeLorenzo has a small part, too.
The music is fun and the cast commits to the idea of the film well.
Trini Alvadrado's and Britta Phillip's performances really impressed me, Scott Coffey was just plain adorable, Liam Neeson was a great casting choice (very dry and sarcastic in his opening scenes, he really should keep making comedies), and personally, I found Julia Roberts far more amusing in this film than anything else she's famous for!
Justine Bateman's acting was a bit melodramatic at times, but it's an otherwise small flaw in this hidden gem.
I used to perform quite a bit growing up, and no other movie has allowed me to indulge in my "adolescent rock and roll fantasies" quite like this one.
Let's not forget that this is one of the few 80s movies where the characters are seem to be singing and not have the songs in the background.
I think Satisfaction is a good movie.
(The fact Aaron Spelling produced the movie probably explains a lot of this.) The script is terrible - I'm not sure if there is footage missing, but it sure feels like it with subjects being brought up then abandoned.
I can't picture worse covers to classic rock tunes as those showcased in this movie.
Julia being in this movie makes it worth watching,but if are not a fan of one of the main actors/actresses then don't bother.
Satisfaction is a movie about five teenagers who have a band called Mystery.Justine Bateman plays the leading singer of the band called Jennie Lee.Justine is best known as Mallory from Family Ties.Satisfaction from 1988 doesn't make any movie history, it's just an enjoyable movie.And there's a great opportunity to see what Liam Neeson did before Schindler's List and what Julia Roberts did before Pretty Woman..
This definitely won't win any prizes for plot or acting, but it's a nice fun little movie that's good for a night when you don't want to have to think too much.
I'm a girl who plays guitar, so I spent most of the movie trying to figure out what kind of guitar Billie was playing (Jenny had a Fender Telemaster...choice!) One of the best things is seeing Julia Roberts before she made it...it's very amusing.
Watching Girls of Summer (Satisfaction) brought back those feelings and that excitement.
If you've ever dreamed of getting a band together, you'll like this movie.
Not Bad Like Mean People Say. This movie is fantastic.
It features the Eighties' bad taste, bad ass Justine Bateman, the rest of Julia Roberts and horrible classic rock songs.
How much do you really need to know about what people think about a movie?
The band is slightly better than terrible, but it was hard to take my eyes off Justine.Two things I liked about this movie, the relationship the girl had with the dog, and the love story between Justine and Liam Neeson.Probably the only movie that will ever be made where Justine Bateman gets higher billing and a bigger role than Julia Roberts, but she deserved it, and Julia was horrible.
But because of Justine Bateman's smile, I gave two more stars than I would otherwise, 6/10..
Julia Roberts made her first credited film appearance in this late 80's girl band movie.
Four girls and a token guy, a geeky one at that, travel to a beach coast roadhouse to be the summer house band.
The girl band is headed by Family Ties girl: Justine Bateman on lead vocals; Britta Phillips is on lead guitar; Julia Roberts is on bass; Trini Alvarado is on drums.
He plays the club owner where the girls stay for the summer, and he is far too old for someone of Bateman's ilk, as portrayed in this movie.
Watch it only if you have nothing better to do, like washing your big hair.
Only some very powerful psychotropics could possibly convince anyone that Justine Bateman's Liam Neeson accompanied rendition of Dedicated to the One I Love is the future of rock and roll.
I guess it's nice that Elvis Costello collects a royalty check every time Satisfaction plays on TV (the girls butcher Mystery Dance mid-movie), but that's not much compensation for what is otherwise a thoroughly awful film.
It just feels like there are whole scenes missing, scenes that would have fleshed out the characters and given us more time to get to know and care about them.
The best part of this awful film is when the ending credits are rolling and you hear the band playing and singing the title song.Trouble is that the film is anything but good.
4 teenage girls and a young guy embark on a summer of fun when they land a job playing as a band at a beach resort.
They just hop in a van and go.We have what could fall into a beach blanket movie with singing,gaiety, an attempted suicide and a romance between Justine Bateman and Liam Neeson, a widowed song writer who shall we say has a lot on his mind.Of course, Neeson likes the band so much that he wants them to defer school and go rock in Europe.I added the extra 1/2 star since the film did end correctly, that is, that school comes first.
Liam Neeson does his usual decent job, Justine Bateman is actually very good, the rest of the band members do a nice job within their characters and are fairly talented.
Julia Roberts appears in what I believe is her third movie and is okay.