Eddie and the Cruisers (1983)
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A television reporter investigates the mysterious disappearance of a cult rock star while the band members attempt to relive their past.
The story
Television news reporter Maggie Foley investigates the mysterious disappearance of cult rock star Eddie Wilson. Flashbacks dramatize Eddie's life and the rise and fall of his band, the Cruisers. The band gets its start at a club in Somers Point, New Jersey named Tony Mart's. Not adept at writing lyrics, Eddie hires Frank Ridgeway aka "Wordman" to be the band's keyboard player and lyricist. The band's first album, Tender Years, becomes a major hit, but recording their next album, A Season in Hell, turns out to be a nightmare as Eddie pushes his bandmates beyond their limits, musically and personally.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Television news reporter Maggie Foley investigates the mysterious disappearance of cult rock star Eddie Wilson. Flashbacks dramatize Eddie's life and the rise and fall of his band, the Cruisers. The band starts at Tony Mart's in Somers Point, New Jersey. Eddie hires Frank Ridgeway ("Wordman") for lyrics, despite protests from manager Doc Robbins and bassist Sal Amato. Their first album, Tender Years, is a hit, but the second, A Season in Hell, is a struggle as Eddie pushes the band toward ambitious, bleak poetry. After the album is rejected by Satin Records, Eddie vanishes after a car crash. Eighteen years later, a documentary explores the mystery of the missing second album. The surviving members—now living ordinary lives—participate, sharing humiliating memories. Joann Carlino reveals she hid the master tapes in the "Palace of Depression," a childhood landmark. Frank and Joann retrieve them, only to be confronted by Doc, who had been searching for them. In a final reveal, a bearded, older Eddie is shown alive, watching the documentary's conclusion from an appliance store before disappearing.
- First release year
- 1983
- Runtime (minutes)
- 95
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Martin Davidson
- Writers
- Martin Davidson · screenplay; Arlene Davidson · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Tom Berenger · Frank Ridgeway (piano) aka "The Word Man"; Michael Paré · Eddie Wilson; Joe Pantoliano · "Doc" Robbins; Matthew Laurance · Sal Amato (bassist); Helen Schneider · Joann Carlino; David Wilson · Kenny Hopkins (drums); Michael "Tunes" Antunes · Wendell Newton (saxophone); Ellen Barkin · Maggie Foley
- Genres
- musical; drama; mystery
- Themes
- Ambition; Artistic integrity; Memory; Fame
- Tone and mood
- Melancholic; Dramatic; Nostalgic
- Premise and plot tags
- Musical Mystery; Rock Music; Biography; Drama
- Source material / true-story basis
- Novel by P. F. Kluge
- Franchise connections
- Eddie and the Cruisers
- Reception
- The film was a box office flop and received negative to mixed reviews from critics, though it gained a cult following and a successful soundtrack.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 38% · review count: 16
- Production trivia
- The film was originally intended for a summer release but was delayed to September due to a scheduling error.; The music was produced by John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band.; The film was pulled from theaters after only three weeks.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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