Change Your Image
pt8685
Reviews
FM (1978)
Skip the movie, buy the soundtrack
Bottom line: FM was a mediocre movie with a great soundtrack. I enjoyed all of the concert footage in the film (mostly Linda Ronstadt and Jimmy Buffet), but the comedy wasn't good, and the story was just plain awful.
You've probably already read the synopsis so I'll spare you the details. The setting and situation were ripe for big laughs, but they never came. In fact, WKRP (which was being created at the same time as the movie FM) made much better comedy from virtually the same raw material.
As for the premise, I found it patently hypocritical that FM station employees would be so offended at the idea of commercializing their station with ads, when that's in fact exactly what they do for a living. Radio exists because it sells records and concerts. It is by nature a commercial enterprise. DJs are the basically used car salesmen of the recording industry.
Now I don't think there's anything wrong with this arrangement. In fact, I think it's a great deal for the radio audience; we get to sample the songs, and even fall in love with them before we decide to buy the recording.
But the holier-than-thou attitude displayed in this movie is very disappointing. At one point in the film, Tom Petty (whom I love) is brought into the booth to be interviewed by the DJ while they play tracks from his latest album, "Damn the Torpedoes." Meanwhile, the station manager is trying his hardest to prevent commercials from airing on "his" radio station.
I wanted to shout, "Hey, dude! There's a commercial for Tom Petty's album playing on your station right now! Hello! Kids are going to pay $10 for the record and Tom's going to get $1. The rest goes to some giant recording industry mega-corp." Basically, the screenwriters wrote the DJ's as self-indulgent children, the station manager as a self-centered prick, and the owners as pure evil assholes. This made it hard for me to root for anyone.
The movie would have been sharper if the screenwriters had made the station manager more reasonable to contrast with the owners. Instead of objecting to all advertising, for example, the manager could have told the owners he was willing to do 20% more ads at 10% higher rates. Then have the owners shoot back at him with something like "you'll do it our way or you're out on your ass." Then I would have rooted for the station manager a lot more.
Of course, I would have forgiven any flaws in the premise if the movie had just been funnier.
By the way, if you want to read a contemporary review, there still one available at the NY Times website written by veteran critic Jane Maslin (http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=16493).