Roadie (1980)

Just stumbled upon this movie by chance. What a great musical time piece it turned out to be! Nonsensical, quirky road movie with Meat Loaf (excellent acting), Blondie and others in a B-movie made for the ages. Keep an eye out for cameos, there a a handful not emphasized or dwelled upon. Heard of The Blues Brothers? Don't blink and you might see them (both movies came out the same year).

Roadie is a slow, lackluster experience from an actor who could have the potential to do a very funny slapstick film. Meat Loaf has the charisma, attitude, appearance, and ability to play a character in a buddy comedy. Alas, Roadie is not that movie. And it's not really any movie.The problem is a typical one for comedies in the eighties; they don't know what they want to be. Roadie could've been one of three things; a musical with performances by many great people like Alice Cooper and Hank Williams Jr., a deep character study into Meat Loaf's Travis W. Redfish character, or a buddy comedy involving one making it big, the other left to eat dust. This reminds me of Footloose in the sense that all of its intentions, when focused on their own, could've been successful. But morphing them all into one wasn't.Travis W. Redfish (Loaf) is a Texas man who has a talent for fixing any and all pieces of equipment. Instruments, trucks, machines, etc. His unique talent gets him a job with as a roadie. The only reason Redfish takes the job is because of a sexy woman named Lola (Hunter) who basically reals him in with her eyes and along for the ride.The musical numbers are nice, yet far too short. The acting is decent, but sub-par all around, Loaf is nice, but not fully shown, and the script is inconsistent and sometimes dreadfully boring. What could've made Roadie work? Only a major tuneup in the screenplay area? I find it surprising to read that it took four people to write this film. Maybe there was a lot of indecisiveness and compromises among them.Starring: Meat Loaf and Kari Hunter. Directed by: Alan Rudolph.

Okay, so I am a huge Cheap Trick fan and they do the title song on this movie. Not my favorite CT song, but as a huge fan, I felt the need to check it out. I was pleasantly surprised. Having no expectations, it turns out Roadie is a fun snapshot of late 70s/early 80s rock and roll.Meatloaf is enjoyable to watch as the lovable cowboy, who goes along with a rock show as their go-to fix-it man. All for the love of a 16-year-old groupie. (Did anybody else have a problem with this? I was trying to remember if there were pedophile laws back then. Contrary to the fleshy movie poster, there is nudity in this movie.) Other fun roles are by Art Carney, Don Corlenlous, Joe Spano and of course, all the music stars. It's always great to see famous musicians in movie roles, where you don't expect them to be great actors, but more of just themselves. Roy Orbison, Alice Cooper, Debbie Harry and Hank Williams Jr. all seems to be having fun and go along with the breezy plot.The music scene at the time of this movie (1980) was at a crossroads. Mainstream rock and country were up against disco (thankfully, not in this movie), punk and new wave. The soundtrack reflects this - a perfect example is Blondie's cover of Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire. I really wish Meatloaf would have had a chance to sing some of his classics. But the rest of the music is good enough to forgive some of the silly plot moments and acting. I need to try and find the soundtrack, which I hear is out of print. Does anyone know if a CD was ever released?7 out of 10 stars for a fun trip back in time when rock and roll was a little bit more honest. The life of a roadie can be interesting when you have to keep the circus moving. Roadie definitely doesn't take itself too seriously, which is what a good rock and roll movie should do.

Four years after making his directorial debut with the art-house snoozer "Welcome To L.A.", Alan Rudolph shows us what he really wanted from Hollywood was to be one of the guys. "Roadie" is a frat-boy fracas complete with barroom brawls, horny harpies, Art Carney in a souped-up wheelchair...and Meat Loaf at the wheel. Meat Loaf (playing Travis W. Redfish!) is actually a rather charming presence on the screen, and perhaps in a smaller role (in a better movie) he might indeed be ingratiating, but Zalman King's script is full of stereotypical redneck humor and helpless Meat Loaf is kept wide-eyed and moronic. Alice Cooper, Roy Orbison, Hank Williams, Jr., and Blondie all make appearances--and all look embarrassed. They certainly should, "Roadie" is one bad trip. NO STARS from ****