Detroit Rock City is a 1999 American comedy film directed by Adam Rifkin and written by Carl V. Dupré. It tells of four teenage boys in a Kiss cover band who try to see their idols in concert in Detroit in 1978. Comparable to Rock 'n' Roll High School, Dazed and Confused, The Stöned Age, and I Wanna Hold Your Hand, it tells a coming-of-age story through a filter of 1970s music and culture in the United States. It ultimately took its title from the Kiss song of the same name.
The film was shot at Cedarbrae Collegiate Institute in Scarborough, Toronto and other Ontario locations including Copps Coliseum in Hamilton.[3]
Plot[]
In Cleveland, Ohio, in 1978, four rebellious teenage boys - Hawk, Lex, Trip Verduie, and Jeremiah "Jam" Bruce - run their own Kiss cover band called "Mystery" while they prepare to see their idols in concert in Detroit, Michigan, the following night. Their hopes, however, are dashed when Jam's religious mother discovers the concert tickets and burns them before having Jam transferred to a Catholic boarding school.
Trip manages to win tickets and backstage passes from a radio contest in Detroit and the boys plan to rescue Jam from the boarding school. Disguised as pizza delivery boys, they get Father Phillip McNulty drugged from a pizza topped with hallucinogen mushrooms and set off with Jam for Detroit in Lex's mother's Volvo to pick up the tickets. While on the highway, the boys get into a road rage incident with disco fanatics Kenny and Bobby after Trip accidentally throws a slice of pizza on their windshield. They beat up the disco duo and continue their journey before picking up Christine, who walked out on Kenny due to his behavior.
Upon their arrival in Detroit, the boys discover that Trip did not stay on the phone long enough to give the radio station his information, forcing them to give the tickets to the next caller. After discovering that the Volvo has been stolen, the boys split up to find Kiss tickets and meet up in an hour and 45 minutes. Hawk finds a scalper who suggests he enter a male stripping contest to raise money for tickets. He gets drunk and loses the contest, but is offered payment for company by an older woman named Amanda Finch. After being paid, he locates the scalper, only to find out that his tickets are sold out. Trip goes to a local convenience store in hopes of mugging a younger child for his ticket, but is confronted by the boy's elder brother Chongo and his friends, who threaten him for $200. He then plans to rob the store with a fake gun, but ends up thwarting a real robbery attempt and is rewarded $150. Trip gives the money to Chongo's gang, but they steal his wallet in the process.
Lex sneaks backstage with the concert loading crew, but is caught and tossed over a fence where he encounters a group of vicious dogs. He wins them over with a frisbee and save Christine and the Volvo from two car thieves at a nearby chop shop. Jam encounters an anti-Kiss rally and is spotted by his mother, who forcibly takes his drumsticks and drags him to a nearby church for confession. There, he is seen by Beth Bumstein, a classmate who is in the process of moving to Ann Arbor. After admitting their feelings for each other, they make love in the confessional booth before parting ways. Jam, imbued with new confidence, goes back to the rally and angrily berates his mother for her domineering ways and her hypocrisy, telling her that constantly shoving her extreme religious views down his throat has done nothing but cause him to despise religion and he demands his drumsticks back. She does so and apologizes to him, remarking to the crowd, "They grow up so fast".
When the boys meet up empty-handed, they beat each other up to make it appear that they had been mugged of their tickets. Upon arriving at Cobo Hall, the guards are skeptical, but Trip points out Chongo and his friends, who are just entering, as the culprits. When the guards find Trip's wallet with his Kiss Army picture ID and money, they confiscate Chongo's tickets along with it and give them to the boys. Astonished and elated, the boys enter the concert hall as Kiss plays the title song of the film. As it ends, Peter Criss throws a drumstick and Jam catches it with joy and excitement.[4]
Cast[]
- Edward Furlong as Hawk
- Sam Huntington as Jeremiah "Jam" Bruce
- Giuseppe Andrews as Lex
- James DeBello as Trip Verudie
- Lin Shaye as Mrs. Bruce
- Melanie Lynskey as Beth Bumstein
- Natasha Lyonne as Christine
- Emmanuelle Chriqui as Barbara
- Shannon Tweed as Amanda Finch
- Nick Scotti as Kenny
- David Quane as Bobby
- Joe Flaherty as Father Phillip McNulty
- Cody Jones as Little Kid
- Michael Barry as Nerd
- Matthew G. Taylor as Chongo
- Robert Smith as Simple Simon
- Ron Jeremy as Strip Club MC
- Dino Sicoli as Lucky Guy In Hot tub
- Pamela Bowen as an unnamed anti-Kiss conservative rallying alongside Mrs. Bruce
- Members of Kiss:Paul Stanley as The Starchild
- Gene Simmons as The Demon
- Peter Criss as The Catman
- Ace Frehley as The Spaceman
Theatrical Trailer[]
Detroit Rock City (1999) Trailer