Roadie (1980)
** (out of 4)
Travis Redfish (Meat Loaf) is a man who can fix anything so he's hired by a promoter to become a roadie and make sure a rock and roll show keeps going without issues. Lola (Kaki Hunter) is a virgin groupie who wants to land in NYC so that she can give herself to Alice Cooper (who plays himself). ROADIE was one of many musicals that went down as a major flop back in the day but looking at the picture today you can't help but find it somewhat charming and of course there's all the major talent on display. I think the biggest problem can be spotted in the opening credits when you see that four different people are credited with the story. This "story" appears to have about four different sides and all of them are fighting against one another and in the end you're really left with a movie that doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. On one hand, you have a behind the scenes look at a rock show on tour but the thing is so tame that you really do feel as if you're watching something that has been watered down. On another hand you have a groupie getting used to the road but Meat Loaf's character is so full of holes that you have a hard time making any sense out of him. Another problem with the story is that Loaf's character goes "crazy" at times and apparently this is from an earlier UFO abduction but this subplot is just downright annoying. The story goes off in so many directions that you're head will be hurting by the time it's over or you at least be sitting there wondering why they couldn't have just left the spotlight on some of the music acts. Hank Williams, Jr., Blondie, Asleep at the Wheel, Roy Orbison, Jack Elliott and The Pleasant Valley Boys are just a few of the acts that appear and most of them give good performances. We even get a duet between Williams and Orbison, which is certainly worth sitting through. Cooper gets the biggest role of any of the musical acts and he has proved that he can be a very reliable actor and his charm is certain quite high here. One wishes that he had been given even more screen time as he's quite funny here and we also get a couple songs including Only Women Bleed. Meat Loaf also delivers a pretty likable performance as he certainly makes you entertained by his character even though it's underwritten. Hunter is also good in her role. Art Carney appears of Loaf's father but he's sadly wasted. ROADIE is a pretty bad movie due to its bad screenplay but at the same time fans of the musical acts should be somewhat entertained with the music alone. There's a good film somewhere in here but sadly it just goes off in way too many directions.
