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Simply Perfect

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Released in 1983 and directed by Jon Amiel, "Eddie and the Cruisers" is a rock drama about a TV reporter (Ellen Barkin) who picks up the story of a legendary early 60's rock band that prematurely ended when their charismatic leader, Eddie Wilson (Michael Paré), died when his Chevy went off a bridge, although his body was never recovered. The newswoman interviews the living band members 18 years after their heyday and tries to track down the missing tapes to their never-released avant-garde second album. The band members are Frank (Tom Berenger), Joann (Helen Schneider), Sal (Matthew Laurance), Kenny (David Wilson) and Wendell (Michael "Tunes" Antunes), while their bullcrappin' manager is Doc (Joe Pantoliano).This was the inspiration for 2009's "The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll" but both movies have their distinctions, as well as pros and cons. "Eddie" is about a band from the early 60s whereas "The Perfect Age" is about a Guns N' Roses-type band whose heyday was in the 80s. Each film starts out shaky as the story is set-up, but they progressively get better. Both films feature charismatic frontmen with diametrically opposed styles, but also very similar when you think about it. Each feature revealing chats amongst the characters with "Eddie" shining in the final act when it unveils Eddie's youthful place of solitude, Palace of Depression (which is an actual place in southern New Jersey, Vineland; a building made of junk built by the eccentric George Daynor, a former Alaskan gold miner who lost his fortune in the Crash of '29). Growing-up, my gang had several hidden spots where we'd meet, each with a name known only to us; I even had a personal "My Place" in the woods behind my parents house on a lake where I'd often go for private reflection. When I was 15 I planned to commit suicide there, but thankfully didn't go through with it. The movie gets points for including such an existential element.Was Eddie still alive or did he die in 1964? The ending reveals the truth and the way it's done is superlative.So which movie is better, "Eddie" or "The Perfect Age"? They both shoot for greatness and in some small ways attain it. Disregarding the rockin' performances, "Eddie" is more location-bound and therefore dramatically sedentary whereas "The Perfect Age" is a road movie in disguise and therefore seemingly more eventful. In my opinion the music's better in the latter, but then I prefer the heavier side of rock/metal over the Bruce-Springsteen-in-the-early 60s style of "Eddie" (which is good for what it is, don't get me wrong). "Eddie" stands out for including the Palace of Depression angle and contains superb lines in the final act, but "The Perfect Age" soars in its own way, like Spyder & Eric's brouhaha in the rain and the blues bar sequence (featuring cameos by legends Sugar Blue, Pinetop Perkins, Hubert Sumlin, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith and Bob Stroger). Then there's the powerful climatic scene in "Perfect Age" at Spyder's ritzy mansion with Jane's Addiction's "Three Days" playing in the background, which just so happens to rank with the all-time best cinematic scenes utilizing rock songs, like the close of 1998's "Buffalo '66" with Yes' incredible "Heart of the Sunrise." The songs by the fictitious Eddie and the Cruisers were composed/performed by John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band. The main song, "On the Dark Side," became a #1 hit for the band and "Tender Years" was a minor one. Most of the cast weren't musicians, although Matthew Laurance (Sal) learned how to play bass for the movie. Only Michael "Tunes" Antunes, the sax player for the Beaver Brown Band, and Helen Schneider (Joann) were professional musicians.Speaking of whom, I can't close without mentioning how Helen really shines here. No, she's no Meryl Streep, but she's great for her role in "Eddie." You could say she's The Perfect Rage of Rock 'n' Roll (sorry, that was just DUMB). I should also add that it's interesting to see Berenger, Barkin and Paré when they were so young.The film runs 95 minutes and was shot entirely in New Jersey with the exception of the college sequence, which was filmed just across the Pennsylvania border at Haverford College.GRADE: B+

TV reporter Maggie Foley (Ellen Barkin) want to find an infamous '60s rock band whose leader Eddie Wilson (Michael Paré) was presumed dead. Recent events indicate that he might still be alive. We follow old band mate Frank Ridgeway (Tom Berenger) as he tracks down old colleagues such as played by Joe Pantoliano.The structure of this film is where most of the interesting stuff is told in flashbacks. I wish that they did not keep going back and forth in time. And the final reveal wasn't quite satisfying. The best thing about this movie is the music and more specifically one song. It has immense energy. In fact, it infuses it into the movie itself which does get slow when it is in present day mode.

This movie is just kinda average. Not too bad, not great either. It's a compelling story, but it goes in 100 different directions: Eddie and the keyboard player in-fighting, the sax player dying of a heroin overdose, the sexual tension between Eddie and his girlfriend, etc.But that really isn't my major problem with this film. Coming from a purely music production standpoint, the filmmaker's were absolutely lazy! It's supposed to take place 1963, yet the music CLEARLY sounds like it was recorded in 1980's. Take a listen to some actual music released in 1963, (some fine examples: The Beach Boys, The Beatles, any Motown or Stax records, or since this movie is about a New Jersey band, The Four Seasons). You would notice that those recordings sound very raw compared to the supposed "music of 1963" they flaunt in this movie.I don't mean to nitpick, but there are some other films about musicians, to some degree, that at least tried to better represent the "sound" of the period that they're representing. "Almost Famous", "Still Crazy", "This Is Spinal Tap" are just a few examples of period pieces that actually do get it right when it came to making original music that actually sounds like that it could've been made in the late 60's to early 70's (depending on which movie you're watching). They could've at least had John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band record their songs with 1963 technology with 1963 instruments, most of which was still readily available at the time, or at least tried to get a sound on 1983 technology that could recreate how a record made in 1963 would've sounded. It really wouldn't have been difficult.It's absolutely appalling that the filmmaker's didn't even try. Besides the soundtrack, the sets and settings weren't done very well either. I guess they didn't have the budget to be authentic. They just threw some music together, not caring about if it's right, threw a guy into a leather jacket and slicked his hair back, and called it a movie about 1963.

This is mystifying me! I just watched "Eddie and the Cruisers" on DVD, and there's a scene when the reporter is looking up something on Eddie on the computer (it's supposed to be 1983 in the film's story). She uses the Internet and goes to a search engine called "RIDDLE", whose colorful letters on the screen highly resemble "GOOGLE". I noticed the similarity of "RIDDLE" and "GOOGLE" and chuckled to myself, "ah they're doing a take-off on Google". However, when I got done watching the movie, I realized that this film was really made in 1983, and Google wasn't started until 1995. So, this is more than anachronistic! If this film was really made in 1983, the writer/producer/director was able to foresee the future by 12 years!!!! How can this be? Am I going nuts?