Detroit Rock City (1999)

" Director Adam Rifkin and screenwriter Carl V. Dupre... capture the magic of one special night.  Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

Editor's Note The year is 1978: the KISS Army is at the height of its powers. Enter card-carrying members Hawk (Edward Furlong), Trip, Lex, and Jam, four Detroit teenagers who will do anything to go to the KISS show. As we follow them through one day, we see the insane lengths these shaggy-haired young chaps will go to in order to see their favorite rock-and-roll superheroes at a Detroit arena. The band themselves show up in full regalia as their 1978 selves, but Natasha Lyonne steals the show as a sweet young disco mama.

	Edward Furlong
	Giuseppe Andrews
	James DeBello
	Natasha Lyonne
	John R. Leonetti - Cinematographer
	Rosanna Norton - Costume Designer
	Adam Rifkin - Director
	Mark Goldblatt, et al. - Editor
	J. Peter Robinson - Musical Score
	Michael De Luca, et al. - Producer
	Steve Hardie - Production Designer
	Carl V. DuprŽ - Screenplay

Variety
"...Gonzo visual energy....Ear-splittingly loud and a helluva lotta fun..." p.39-40

Rolling Stone
"...DETROIT ROCK CITY takes on [Kiss] with affection and humor..." 09/02/1999 p.125

Sight and Sound
"...The era's celebratory rock is expertly recreated, with lots of knowing in-jokes..." 11/??/1999 p.42-3

Box Office
"...Fancy camerawork, clever one-liners, silly slapstick comedy and classic gross-out moments..." 10/01/1999 p.58

USA Today
"...There's certainly a lot of youthful exuberance on tap..." 08/13/1999 p.9E

Total Film
"...[With a] witty script..." 07/01/2000 p.118

San Francisco Chronicle 8 of 10
Detroit Rock City has two built-in audiences. Teenagers. And people who were teenagers in the late 1970s, when the action takes place. It's about four suburban high school boys who are desperate to go to a KISS concert in Detroit -- the city immortalized in the band's ridiculous but irresistible song Detroit Rock City. Director Adam Rifkin and screenwriter Carl V. Dupre capture something that hasn't been conveyed as well on film since Modern Girls, a low-budget gem from 1986. They capture the magic of one special night, the kind that can only happen when a person is young. How they succeed is by remembering that such nights don't start special. At the beginning, they're ordinary, and in the middle, they usually seem like trouble. The special night is built moment by moment -- or, in the movies, shot by shot. The effect is cumulative. There's a beautifully shot scene in which the guys drive near the concert arena, as the street fills with fans, and the word "KISS" flashes in electric lights. By shooting the street through the windshield, Rifkin helps adults remember how a rock concert is perceived through teenage eyes. It's huge, and the city feels enchanted -- and tawdry in the nicest way. Like American Pie, the picture is about four guys, but in this one, two stand out. Edward Furlong has had the aura of a movie star since he was a child in Terminator 2, and he hasn't lost it as a teenager... The story takes place over a period of about 16 hours, taking the boys through their high school day and into the city for the show. The incidents are funny and evoke the times... The animus between the rock fans and the disco lovers is very 1978. So is the soundtrack. The picture features a lot of music specific to 1977-78, some of it obscure, such as Hot Chocolate's "Every 1's a Winner" and the Runaways' "School Days." While it's possible to have a great time with the movie without having any interest in KISS, it should be noted that the band does make an appearance. - Mick LaSalle