Woodyanders Review of American Hot Wax

American Hot Wax (1978)

A very fine & affectionate portrait of pioneering rock disc jockey Alan Freed

[8/10 · 22 January 2006]

Late, great, sorely undervalued character actor supreme Tim McIntire, who supplied the stingingly sardonic voice of the vicious canine Blood in the sci-fi post-nuke pip "A Boy and His Dog" and was also a singer/songwriter who did several flavorsome folk ballads for the Western "Jeremiah Johnson" before he died of a heart failure at the shockingly young age of 42, excels in a rare starring role, delivering a fabulously moody and sharply delineated portrayal of pioneering 50's rock'n'roll disc jockey Alan Freed. Freed was one of the first genuine rock music rebels (he was constantly at loggerheads with killjoy censors and unsympathetic radio station executives), the man largely credited with coining (or at least popularizing) the expression "rock'n'roll," the key player who initially made allegedly "forbidden" music recorded by black artists accessible to white middle class kids, and, sadly, one of rock's early untimely victims who took a heavy fall during the notorious 1960 payola scandal and subsequently degenerated into a lonely, forgotten, penniless alcoholic. Director Floyd Mutrux's vibrant, loving, sweetly nostalgic cinematic valentine to Freed and the electric, joyously innocent 50's rock scene recreates this magical era with meticulous care and tremendous affection. William A. Fraker's bright, sparkling cinematography imbues the lively proceedings with an eye-filling array of hazy colors. Fran Drescher as Freed's loyal, irritable secretary and Jay Leno as Freed's always joking wiseguy chauffeur provide broadly funny comic relief. Lorraine Newman gives an endearing performance as a Carol King-like aspiring songwriter. Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis all appear as themselves in the raucously thrilling concert finale. "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" author Cameron Crowe, veteran session vocalist Brenda Russell, and New Orleans rhythm and blues singer Frankie "Sea Cruise" Ford pop up in cameo roles. Granted, the film does suffer somewhat because of John Kaye's erratically plotted and historically inaccurate script (50's and 60's rock songs and performers are all meshed together into a rather preposterous mishmash), but that's a minor debit in an otherwise fine and hugely enjoyable rock movie biopic.