reidmosley

Some try to compare this to Rashomon, but I see it more as a Lord of the Flies of the biker films. A bunch of visiting bikers get caught up in mess at a hippie commune in the desert. This cult-like community has created its own moral code and its own sense of justice apart from the rest of the world. Scott Glenn, and his companions, must endure the torture of the leadership before discovering their own humanity and escaping.

I love these Corman pictures and the opportunity to see actors like Scott Glen show their chops before they "made it". Also love watching Demme's direction to see the flickers of brilliance that would shine in his later work.

As part of the whole Biker genre films of the 60s and 70s, it contains all of the elements one would expect from pictures of this ilk: girls, substance abuse, anarchy and redemption. Good for a laugh.

If you want to inflate your own relevance, hire your best friend to make a movie about you, and if you run out of people to comment on you, allow that same friend to be a commentator in the film. This is just a vanity docu-project about the classic joke comedian who was once a writer for Howard Stern.

There is no new ground covered, basically the same stories Jackie has recycled for years on podcasts and in his biography. But that's Jackie, right? A fine purveyor of recycled jokes and material in yet another attempt at self-promotion. Isn't that what we love about him?

This film allows you to laugh AT him more than with him, you just wish Howard, Fred and the Jackie Puppet were doing a commentary track about it. The most exciting part is the appearance of Scott DePace, the ignorant director who fell off the face of the Earth and is probably again the team leader at ShowBiz Pizza. Watch it if you have a love for Jackie and the Stern show.

PS - Artie does make three 10 second appearances.