Boring

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I played it for the 4th or 5th time since "American Hot Wax" was released, Nothing was lost, it's a very tight production packed with all the songs you loved when you first heard them. So many kids writing and preforming their own songs, songs that send you toetaping, hip shaking and singing along. Alan Freed played by Tim McIntire grows on you, Fran Drescher, Lorraine Newman and yes Jay Leno were really excellent playing Mr Freed's Support staff, Newman, the songwriter were convincing keeping up the frantic pace. This was the birth of rock and roll pre-Beatles and the Stones, Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry play themselves

The two things I like about this film is the music and the 1950's re-creations, plus seeing a young Jay Leno who really grew up during the next 14 years before replacing Johnny Carson. But from there it's all downhill. The chronology is positively awful and those who lived in the 1950s as well as fans of such will spot it instantly. The movie begins around the late Buddy Holly's birthday (referenced twice) so that would make it September 7, 1959. That part would pass as Freed was still on the air until November. But then we hear supposedly new songs being rehearsed which wasn't so at all. Songs like Tweedlee Dee, Come Go With Me and I Wonder Why were from 1955,'57 & '58 respectively. Then later we hear "Stay" being played which of course didn't not come out until the fall of 1960 which by then, Freed was long gone. Frankie Ford is showed recording Sea Cruise which in reality hit the charts in February. To really mess things up, it shows that school being out for the summer, so are we going back to May or fast forwarding to 1960? The part of Jerry Lee Lewis performing at the festival in front of a cheering crowd could be authentic as Freed was the one DJ who still played his records but highly unlikely as most were not ready to forgive Jerry just yet. The advertisement in that this was the beginning of that era was in fact totally the opposite as by latter 1959, the 1950s rock & roll party was about over. Lewis was pretty much done in latter 1958. The deaths of Buddy Holly and two others was a blow that proved difficult to recover from. Chuck Berry went to jail towards the end of the year and with the payola scandal knocking Freed out of the picture, the party was indeed over and the music would mellow out for the next four years into the so-called "innocent years".

American HOT WAX. Is a very beautifully nostalgia look at the 1950's. And its a fond look at Alan Freed the DJ who first coined the term Rock and Roll. To describe the new music that the kids were listening to. And the tag line was very true there was a war being fought and the battle lines were drawn on Rock and Roll.On one side the parents the authorities. On the other side the Teenagers a newly coined term for kids between 13 and 18.They were looking for something to give them a a indenity. something to help define them. Alongside them were the Rock and Roll singers themselves just struggling to find a voice and along them were men like Alan Freed who loved them for what they wee doing. Freed dragged Rock and Roll out of the dirty musty shadows. He brought it into the light and He didn't try to change it . He just wanted it to be played. Freed for all of his efforts was a hunted man. The authorities wanted him on every charge they could think of.And they finally got it in the form of payola. In which highly influential DJs were given money to play certain records and push them up to number one. Not very ethical. but in a industry still struggling to come to terms with itself. And no set rules What could it hurt they figured. but it did hurt them and effectively shut Freed down as a result Freed began drinking harder and died at the age of 42. He never survived the 60's and never lived long enough to see his creation become widely accepted and a major force for change. I think Alan Freed would have been proud.American Hot Wax tells the story of Freed struggling to put on the rock and roll show of 1959. the authorities want to shut it down and shut him down. And Freed well he wants it to go on. With the kids at his side and Rock and roll stars backing them up. Freed is determined to put the show on. A compassionate look at a man whose life was hectic and chaotic. Who still had time for his fans. And A man who still had the power to make a few dreams come true for some . A fond look at what was. And one of the best Rock and Roll movies ever made.

Viewers of this film should know that this is a piece of historical fiction centering around the 1950's disc jockey Alan Freed, who is credited, erroneously, as the person who first coined the phrase "rock and roll"(the phrase was a sexual euphemism and was used in the lyrics of many blues songs prior to becoming a term to describe a specific musical genre). Viewers of the film may be a bit confused about the actuality of the characters and events depicted. Actor Tim MacIntyre plays Alan Freed. Musicians Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Screamin' Jay Hawkins play themselves. And then there are characters in the movie who never existed in real life, but are meant to represent certain actual persons. For instance, Larraine Newman plays character "Teenage Louise," an aspiring songwriter, obviously based on real-life musician Carol King. The vocal group The Chesterfields are a composite of Frankie Lyman and The Teenagers and The Coasters. Compounding the confusion is the fact that these characters sing actual songs from the fifties that were hits for artists who aren't acknowledged in the movie at all. The end result is a convoluted hodgepodge of actual and fictional characters and events. The real pleasure of watching this film lies in the performances of the actors and musicians. MacIntyre gives a great interpretation of renegade DJ Freed. Ms. Newman, although too old to play a character with the word "teenage" in her name, is touching as a girl pursuing, and realizing, her dream of being a professional songwriter. Jay Leno, then virtually unknown as a stand-up comic, is hilarious as Alan Freed's driver Mike, and the interplay between Leno and Fran Drescher, who plays Freed's secretary Cheryl is wonderful. Comedian Jeff Altman has short scenes as an obnoxious agent trying, literally, to get his foot in Freed's door, and he shines. The highlight of the film, however, is Alan Freed's live Rock 'n Roll show at Brooklyn's Paramount Theatre. The musicianship is top-rate. Pay particular attention to the lead singer of the fictional girl group The Delites, whose vocal on the song "Maybe" is breathtaking. Rock 'n Roll legends Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry perform as well. Lewis is red-hot; Chuck, true to his reputation at the time, gives a perfunctory and uninspired performance with his medley of "Reelin' and Rockin'/Roll Over Beethoven." Lost in the editing of the film is Screaming Jay Hawkins's performance of his R&B hit "I Put A Spell On You." The film devotes only a few seconds to his wonderfully original and oddball stage show. I have the soundtrack album in my collection, which includes Hawkins' song in its entirety, along with other performances that are either not included, or abbreviated in the editing of the film. The soundtrack also includes the original hit recordings of songs performed by Jackie Wilson, Bobby Darin, Buddy Holly, and others, and the soundtrack stands on its own apart from the film. I think I saw a VHS version of the film at a video store, so it may be available. Otherwise, good luck trying to see it. Copies of the soundtrack may be floating around second-hand record shops. If you can't find it, c'mon over to my place and we'll all listen together.