Tapeheads Review

Title: Tapeheads (1988)

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Tagline: “Let’s get into trouble, baby!”

My Tagline: “Just when you thought the chicken and waffles were safe again…”

Favorite Quote: “Teach me to read.”

Plot Synopsis: Tim Robbins and John Cusack start a video production business with hopes of striking it big in music videos and possibly with real movies. Piss poor and unconnected the duo soon discovers that their plans for fame and fortune will be hard to realize. They resolve themselves to producing work they do not want to in order to make money so that they can do the things they want to do. It sounds pretty simple but even the crappy jobs prove fruitless and matters get extremely complicated when during one of their gigs the boys accidentally come into possession of an incriminating video of a presidential candidate having very kinky relations with hookers.

Review: Once again I find myself struggling with the question of ranking. And once again it is because this film is actually a comedy and not a movie that is so bad it’s funny. I include it here because it is such a unique brand of comedy that isn’t normally well received or understood by the masses. In fact the average ranking over at INMb is only 5.7 out of 10. That’s better than most of the movies I have reviewed but it seems to me that there are some people who would love this movie if they only knew it was worth trying. It’s not for everyone and the description coupled with the relatively low rankings might scare people off. The humor of Tapeheads is often weird and abrupt like two women out of nowhere whipping out nunchucks and butterfly blades in order to duel. Or the boys trying to puppetmaster a dead guy’s face into saying one of his last wishes was for his family to pay them handsomely. This silly, and sometimes a little dark, humor about film geeks and their misadventures is right up my alley so I like the movie. Plus, any movie that features music by They Might Be Giants is automatically going to score points with me. (alternately, any movie that features Richard Gere is going to start off with strikes against it) You can almost compare the humor to things like “Naked Gun” where the comedy is visible on all spectrums from the outrageously silly to the subtle nuisances and references only it isn’t a parody of anything so it struggles a bit to find just the right voice. It’s by no means brilliant or anything but I do believe it deserves better and those few who would like it would probably like it a great deal. It’s a unique and creative little movie clearly done with a shoestring budget that’s worth a shot if you think it sounds interesting.