Rude Awakening (1989)

In the 1960s, two hippies go off into the jungle to evade the FBI. When they come back to New York in the 1980s, their fellow hippie friends have become rich yuppies.

Directors:

David Greenwalt, Aaron Russo

Writers:

Neil Levy (story), Neil Levy (screenplay),

Stars:

Cheech Marin, Eric Roberts, Julie Hagerty

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cheech Marin	...	Jesus Montea
Eric Roberts	...	Fred Wook
Julie Hagerty	...	Petra Black
Robert Carradine	...	Sammy Margolin
Buck Henry	...	Lloyd Stool
Louise Lasser	...	Ronnie Summers
Cindy Williams	...	June Margolin
Andrea Martin	...	April Stool
Cliff De Young	...	Agent Brubaker
Dion Anderson	...	Dr. Binibon
Peter Boyden	...	Dr. Childs
Nicholas Wyman	...	Dr. Abbott
Michael Luciano	...	Martin
Amy Glass	...	1st Twin
Becky Glass	...	2nd Twin

Storyline

In the late 1960s, two hippies are forced to leave their friends as they are wanted by the FBI, who see them as criminals. They hide in the jungle for 20 years, secluded from the outside war. In the late 1980s, they find out that a secret war is about to start in the US, and decided to return to New York to tell someone about it. What they find when they return is that all of their fellow hippies have become rich yuppies, like everyone else, and that no one wants to save the world anymore -- they just want to buy it.

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Plot Keywords:

1980s | 1960s | fbi | hippie | political comedy | 

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Taglines:

Two hippies come back from 1969 to get the bad news. Nobody wants to save the world anymore. They just want to buy it.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 August 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Guatemalan Papers

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$3,169,719 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Aaron Russo Productions, Cineplex Odeon Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Cut from the film was a scene where Cheech Marin has an acid flashback during which he imagines the three FBI agents to be Bob Hope, Ronald Reagan, and Henry Kissinger.

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Quotes

[talking to a multicolored statue]
Jesus Monteya: Hey, I'm really into colored chicks, man.

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Soundtracks

"Success"
Written by Martin Degville, (as Degville), Tony James (as James) and Neal Whitmore (as Whitmore)
Performed by Sigue Sigue Sputnik
Courtesy of EMI Records

User Reviews

Rude Joke On Itself

This appeared at a convenient point in time for pop culture self-examination through the movies; the narrative intent is that we can review the 1980s through the lens of 1960s thinking.

It starts off with a 'reprogramming' of a dropout via LSD and movie indoctrination. This could have been something clever...instead it deteriorates by hallucinating through "Up In Smoke" and Leone westerns.

The 'ideal world' is depicted as "Woodstock", with the main characters stolen out of "Easy Rider". They take an excursion through "Salvador" and "The Mosquito Coast".

The whole thing, production-wise, staggers about in a manner as clumsy as "Where the Buffalo Roam" and "Animal House". It resolves through "Deer Hunter", "Stripes" and the Beatles' 'Revolution'.

The point of all this is to tear down the detached, colorless, sexless, 'boozh-wa' 1980s and reindoctrinate the audience to 'the truth' with the 'romantic' drug of the movie. An audience is assembled in the movie to first provoke (in us)the intended feeling of 'guilt', and the second time to sublimate into 'activism'.

As I wrote earlier, it's just not clever. The problem is, it doesn't know how to target the comedic center. Everything ends up as a target, including Roberts because he doesn't know how to play this in a smart way -- there's no winking at the viewer. The producers thought this was 'affirming', oblivious to the joke on themselves.