This THING has to be seen to be believed - this strange bird is a "rock opera" - apparently it ran as a regional musical in the Cleveland area in the early to mid 90's and finally the engine behind it - the one and only Michael J. Whitely - somehow got some backing and filmed the whole opus. This thing goes on and on and on and on - flashbacks, concert scenes, backstage angst, drugs, fame, the whole ten yards and it is handled so badly, so over the top that it is immensely enjoyable in the same way that Plan 9 from Outer Space, Beneath The Valley Of The Dolls, etc. can be enjoyed by true lovers of all things cheesy and bad. A young musician named Johnny Legend rises through the ranks of the music industry and becomes a big star only to blow it all on drugs and sex and then end up in a coma cuz the crybaby couldn't handle his China White! But here's the thing - the WHOLE movie is sung - every bit of action is played out with dead-on, literal lyrics from CLASSIC hit songs from the 50's all the way through the 90's. Understand? So he has kids dancing to his lame ass version of Rock Around The Clock, Chuck Berry's hits, Ricky Nelson's, the Beatles, The Doors, The Grass Roots, The Jackson 5, Tina Turner, Steve Winwood, Madonna, etc. Uh...could this guy somehow clear the rights to all these hit songs? Of course not. So the guy is stuck with something that just screams out - SUE ME! The legalese written all over the video box and that appears before and after the movie is in itself hilarious. Obviously some local lawyer advised him how to put it so he could have a slim chance of not having every major music publishing house take him to court. Also, the arrangements he does of these songs are so bad, the artists should sue just for that! It sounds like he had a backbeat set up in his Casio machine and he just plays it no matter what the song is - whether it's Blondie's "One Way Or The Other" or "No Time" by the Guess Who - it's all this sucky, lounge act version. The "acting" and "singing" are so bad it is hilarious. The lead guy, Whitely, looks like a cross of John Mellencamp, Kurt Russell and David Keith. There is very LITTLE info on this - only because I have a good friend that runs a video store did I get a chance to borrow the video and watch it. My friends and I howled. It reminded us of the latest R. Kelly "opera" The Closet. Not as funny and jaw-dropping but still stunning.
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