Tapeheads

Tapeheads
Original film poster
Directed byBill Fishman
Written byBill Fishman
Peter McCarthy
Produced byPeter McCarthy
Michael Nesmith
Starring
CinematographyBojan Bazelli
Edited byMondo Jenkins
Music byFishbone
Production
company
Distributed byAvenue Pictures
Release dates
  • January 22, 1988 (1988-01-22) (U.S. Film Festival)
  • October 21, 1988 (1988-10-21) (United States)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3 million
Box office$343,786

Tapeheads is a 1988 American comedy film directed by Bill Fishman and starring John Cusack, Tim Robbins, Clu Gulager, Doug McClure, Jessica Walter, Mary Crosby, Sam Moore and Junior Walker. The film was produced by Michael Nesmith, who briefly appears as a bottled water delivery man.

The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival (then known as the U.S. Film Festival) on January 22, 1988, with De Laurentiis Entertainment Group attached as distributor and a tentative release date of March 1988. However, due to financial concerns, distribution rights reverted to NBC Productions, which sold them to Avenue Pictures. The film was ultimately released on October 21, 1988 and was pulled from theaters only two weeks into its theatrical run. A poll of theater patrons by Avenue concluded that the film's underperformance could be attributed to the company's marketing campaign, which was described as "too hip and selective" and aimed to promote the film as more of a slapstick comedy.

Plot

After losing their jobs as security guards, best friends Ivan and Josh start a music video production company called "Video Aces". When they meet their childhood heroes, 1970s soul duo Swanky Modes, Ivan and Josh concoct a scheme to give them a new audience by hijacking a Menudo concert, getting them to perform in Menudo's place, and broadcasting it live across the country on a television satellite hook-up.

The movie also features a fake ad spot for a real Los Angeles restaurant, Roscoe's House of Chicken 'n Waffles. Notable appearances in the film include: Mary Crosby, of the soap opera Dallas; character actors Clu Gulager and Doug McClure; football player Lyle Alzado; 1960s actress Connie Stevens; Soul Train host Don Cornelius; singer Courtney Love; Navasota singer King Cotton; original "Human Beat-Box" Doug E. Fresh; ska-punk band Fishbone (who also perform the incidental score) as "Ranchbone"; The Dead Boys and The Lords of the New Church singer Stiv Bators; Ted Nugent; "Weird Al" Yankovic; and Dead Kennedys singer Jello Biafra, in a cameo as an FBI agent.

Cast

Soundtrack

The music supervisor for the film was Nigel Harrison. The soundtrack album was released on Island Records.

No.TitleArtistLength
1."Ordinary Man"Swanky Modes (Sam Moore and Junior Walker)2:53
2."Roscoe's Rap"King Cotton4:26
3."Surfer's Love Chant"Bo Diddley4:56
4."You Hooked Me Baby"Swanky Modes3:32
5."Betcher Bottom Dollar"Swanky Modes2:20
6."Baby Doll (Sung in Swedish)"Devo3:36
7."Slow Bus A-Movin' (Howard's Beach Party)"Fishbone ("Ranchbone")2:39
8."Audience for My Pain"Swanky Modes4:22
9."Language of Love"Swanky Modes3:00
10."Ordinary Man (Can't Keep a Good Man Down Mix)"Swanky Modes4:19

The film's soundtrack (but not the soundtrack album) includes the song "Repave America" written and performed by Tim Robbins, credited as "Bob Roberts" four years before that movie was released. "Repave America" also appears on the Bob Roberts soundtrack with the lyrics slightly altered to become "Retake America".

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 60% of 15 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.6/10.

Critical response

Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun Times wrote: "The formula is ageless. We start with a couple of guys who were buddies in the old neighborhood. They want to make it in show business."

Chris Willman of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "It’s to the credit of Fishman and producer/co-writer Peter McCarthy that they keep terminal wiseacres Ivan and Josh as likable as they are profane. (The movie’s R rating was earned.) In a banal way, fast-talking impresario Cusack and the more disheveled Robbins neatly symbolize the symbiotic relationship of commerce and art. But more importantly, they’re credible as white baby-boomers who had their middle-class destinies completely usurped during their Wonder years by the divine appearance of black acts like the Swanky Modes. Tapeheads has almost as much soul as it does good, cheap laughs."

Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote: "Tapeheads sees the world of commercial video production as a new frontier, a wild and woolly place where rules don't exist yet and the pioneering spirit still prevails. It's a funny idea, one that might have been more so if the film had worked solely in that satirical vein. As it is, Tapeheads tacks on various cliched elements of intrigue - there's a blackmail plot against a political candidate - that dilute its humor. It works best when it's simply sending up the tricks of the video trade."

Jim Knipfel of Den of Geek wrote: "Cult movies have been with us for a very long time. As a cultural phenomenon, they really began to emerge on college campuses in the mid-’60s. Difference back then was, those films which earned themselves a small but rabid following weren’t intended to be weird or quirky in any way. Most of them had been released initially with a solidly mainstream audience in mind."

Notes

  1. ↑ De Laurentiis Entertainment Group was credited as distributor at the film's premiere at the U.S. Film Festival

References

  1. 1 2 3 "AFI|Catalog".
  2. ↑ "Tapeheads". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved December 4, 2022. Edit this at Wikidata
  3. ↑ Ebert, Roger (October 21, 1988). "Tapeheads". RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved September 17, 2026 – via The Chicago Sun Times.
  4. ↑ Willman, Chris (October 21, 1988). "Movie Reviews : Tapeheads Looks at Our Tasteless Culture". Los Angeles Times. Times Mirror Company (now Los Angeles Times Communications LLC ). ISSN 0458-3035. OCLC 3638237. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved September 17, 2026.
  5. ↑ Maslin, Janet (March 17, 1989). "Review/Film; Pioneers in the Wilds Of Commercial Video". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. p. 16-C. ISSN 0362-4331. OCLC 1645522. Archived from the original on December 6, 2010. Retrieved September 17, 2026.
  6. ↑ Knipfel, Kim (February 25, 2016). "Tapeheads: The Cult Movie That Tried Too Hard". Den of Geek. DoG Tech LLC. Retrieved September 17, 2026.