Aloha Bobby and Rose

Paul Le Mat, hot off of "American Graffiti", is our male lead in this story by writer / director Floyd Mutrux ("American Hot Wax", "The Hollywood Knights"). Le Mat plays Bobby Eckert, an amiable employee of a car repair shop who likes to set his own hours. One day, he meets a customer, the sweet Rose (Dianne Hull, "The Onion Field", "You Better Watch Out"). It doesn't take a long time for them to start falling for each other. However, one night, while in a liquor store, some thoughtlessness on his part and a bad reaction on hers lead to a death. Bobby is of the mind that NOBODY is likely to believe their version of events, so they take it on the lam.

"Aloha, Bobby and Rose" is not bad for this sort of thing. Ultimately, the story is pretty trite, but the movie gets by on engaging performances by our leads. Bobby and Rose do make for an appealing couple. There are other nice performances, too: Robert Carradine as Bobby's friend / co-worker Moxey, Martine Bartlett as Roses' mom, and the great Southern fried character actor Noble Willingham as Bobby's amiable uncle Charlie. Still, the movie doesn't quite hit its stride until Tim McIntire (who played real life DJ Alan Freed for Mutrux in "American Hot Wax") shows up. Cast as a colorful country boy named Buford, he lights up the screen playing a "life of the party" kind of guy. Leigh French is his gal pal Donna Sue, and other familiar faces like Edward James Olmos, Mario Gallo, and Cliff Emmich turn up as well.

The real value in this flick is the way it gives you a snapshot of California in the mid-70s: its car culture, its sights and sounds, everything. The soundtrack is just PACKED with pop hits of the day, and leads especially heavily on Elton John, using some of his classics like "Your Song", "Tiny Dancer", and "Benny and the Jets".

A fairly entertaining flick that, fortunately, does have some impact after it's over.

Seven out of 10.

O.k., it may not be a Oscar-winning movie, although I personally think it's better than some of the movies that have won for "Best Picture" of the year.

This movie is a lot of fun, has great music throughout, and a guy (Paul LeMatt) that I thought was very hot when the movie first came out in the '70's, and a hot car. What more could you ask for? I was 14 when this movie came out. It was my favorite movie all through high school. And even today I enjoy sharing it with my 14 year old daughter and her friends.

Not a snooze fest like that other dude said.

This film is nothing more than a cheap melodramatic piece of crap, and I love it. The moving story of a young couple on the run. I was young and the worlds biggest Elton John fan when I saw it. I had the whole world before me, I was going out with a beautiful girl, (Named Sue) and I'm not sure if everyone can understand how great it is to listen to "Daniel" while your girlfriend rests on your arm in the soft twilights of the movie theatre.. but I hope they can. I would buy this film if I could find it, and happily agonize through it again, and again... It is a very romantic film in a very basil form... It works for old fogies like me, and teenagers. They won't recongnize all the music, but that won't matter. A great movie for a quiet evening with someone that you care about.

I know that Elton John's "Tiny Dancer" had a re-introduction and re-awakening to the masses after 2000's "Almost Famous." But I know that "Tiny Dancer" was introduced to me in 1975 when this movie came out. But since this film didn't have the impact of "Almost Famous," that's why "Tiny Dancer" stayed pretty much unknown to the general public until 2000.

The film itself is OK. What makes it memorable is the music of that period, which besides "Tiny Dancer," we hear "Bennie and the Jets" during one of the film climaxes, and also "Karn Evil 9" from Emerson Lake and Palmer.

Bobby and Rose are each leading dead-end lives in Los Angeles. He works in a gas station, she is a young stay-at-home mom. They team up and decide to live out a few fantasies, the major one being a carefree journey to Hawaii. Their goal is never reached. Bobby and Rose wander aimlessly around southern California and the Mexican border, making casual acquaintances and encountering casual violence. The dream starts to go wrong almost from the very start, and the young lovers are left with something less than an idyll.

This is a road movie in the great American tradition, a poetic kaleidoscope of images of Americana - radio music merging with advertising hoardings and neon signs in a dreamy, meaningless pot-pourri of LA, a sort of Metro-Goldwyn-melange. For all the colour and style, appearance and reality are at odds. Rose has her fantasy, but her reality is that she has committed herself to a two-bit punk. Under the surface of the stream of images, we see the jagged edges of society's faultlines ... auto wrecks and liquor store hold-ups.

Bobby inhabits a live-now-pay-later youth fantasy of pool games against chicano hoods, hotrod races and getting chased by the cops. The trouble is, Bobby is running on empty and the fantasy cannot last.

On their travels, Bobby and Rose meet a Texan couple, the irrepressible Buford (if only we could have seen more of him!) and the dim but good-natured Donna Sue, played by Tim McIntire and Leigh French. Buford is an amusing drinking-buddy whose presence in any bar guarantees at least one outrageous incident, and Donna Sue is all heart, but their relentless cheerfulness becomes claustrophobic, especially for Rose.

Paul Le Mat as Bobby is appropriately good-looking and vacuous. Diane Hull invests Rose with a little more substance. The story of their spontaneous elopement is, in truth, the tale of Rose's tragedy.

Verdict - Serviceable road movie which makes effective use of contemporary soundtrack.