Detroit Rock City – Review

It is 1978 in Cleveland, Ohio. As Mrs. Bruce (Shaye) looks to put on a favorite record album by The Carpenters, instead what plays out offends her eardrums. This is KISS album Love Gun, which was hidden in the sleeve by her son Jeremiah (Huntington), or his band name Jam. This does not fit her Christian style, as it is the Devil’s music.

Meanwhile, three blocks away, Hawk (Furlong) and his best pals Lex (Andrews), Trip (DeBello) and Jam blast off in their KISS tribute band, ‘Mystery’, rock and rolling all night. And every day. The music they play is… well, it’s okay for their age. They live out their basement fantasy and dream of future fame.

However… their real focus is just one more day of school before they all get to go see KISS live in concert. Life is good!! Too bad Mrs. Bruce thunders in and takes Jeremiah home for listening to such awful music. Does this put the concert in jeopardy?!

Detroit Rock City is a silly and exaggerated comedy featuring boys in a musical quest to see their heroes live in concert. As typical with movies of this ilk, things often do not go as planned, or play out in an over-the-top fashion for comedic effect. Here there is plenty of that, but it’s mostly all playing the same tune at least.

The group of kids are all decent actors and found a good friendship chemistry on screen. The 70s setting is its own vibe and presents a fun backdrop. Even for those that do not care for rock music, KISS or tunes in general can find an okay high school quest comedy here.

For me, the music is pretty decent and the script fairly funny, so the grooves get flowing easily and the casting works well. The director kept it all mostly on the rails, but I may give it an extra half point or so due to watching it with friends back in the day and having a good time with it always. Critics thrashed it, but it’s worth a shot.

“Hey. Santa. Satan. They’re the same letters. They’re the same guy!”