Screenwriter Joe Eszterhas, who's known for dishing out such lurid
Hollywood trash as "Showgirls", appears to have cleaned up his act -
at least temporarily. For the shocking truth is that this
sweet-natured semi-autobiographical tale of lost innocence was
written by the notorious Eszterhas. There are few surprises here. The
teenage son of a Hungarian immigrant hangs with the wrong guy - a
cool, cynical DJ who introduces him to sex-for-hire, flashy cars and
the payola scandal. There are some genuinely appealing moments, but
it's all wrapped up with a happy ending that suggests that telling
whoppers is the American way. On the other hand, Kevin Bacon's
loose-lipped rock-`n'-roll-savvy performance as the record-spinning
Billy Magic spices up the movie enough to make it almost worth
seeing.
Bacon also performed well at a festival press conference. He
admitted he was pleased to be playing the bad role model for an
impressionable teenager for a change. "I'm so happy not to be coming
of age again in a movie. For 30 years I've been coming of age in
movies." Bacon also wrote one of the rock tunes in this festival
selection. "It was a little personal challenge to write a song called
`Medium Rare,' sort of a goof," he explained.
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