Tara (Tara Jane O'Neil) is growing weary of her life at the Rocket House, a party pad filled with crashing slackers, artists, and rock bands. She works as a ticket taker at a movie theatre and hangs out with a group of friends who are equally aimless, skateboarding through the streets of Louisville, KY, and just generally waiting for their lives to start. Her brother, Otis (Ian Svenonius), is the arrogant lead singer of a local rock group called the Guilloteens, and one night after a gig, Tara and her pals steal the band's van (still full of equipment) and head off into the night. The next morning they find themselves in Chattanooga without money or food, so they pose as a touring rock band called Truckstop and talk their way onto the bill of a local punk show. Despite being utterly unfamiliar with the instruments in their hands, they pull off the ruse, and the band they play with loves their noisy, chaotic sound. Even after their secret is revealed, their hosts give them encouragement and tutoring to allow Truckstop to continue on the road. What starts as a romantic adventure, though, degenerates into bickering, bad luck, and boredom. Half-Cocked features members of indie bands like Retsin, the Make Up, Rachel's, and June of 44 as actors, plus an appearance by Memphis rockers the Grifters. The soundtrack includes music by Freakwater, Sleepyhead, Unwound, Smog, and others. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide
Review by All Movie Guide
All Movie Guide
lost interest.
Half-Cocked is the rare rock film that rings true, no doubt due to the fact that it was conceived by and cast with members of actual bands. Co-written by Michael Galinsky of the band Sleepyhead and populated by young musicians from a number of well-known indie rock acts, Half-Cocked gets all the details right in this exploration of low-budget rock & roll touring woes, without succumbing to the overambitious artiness or inside jokes that similar films sometimes suffer from. The pace is slow, but also matches the languid, formless shape of the characters' days, whether they're meandering through the streets of their hometown, driving endlessly to future destinations, or flipping through stacks of records and smoking cigarettes at the homes of their hosts, waiting for the show to start. The conceit of the plot, that the characters aren't really musicians at all and are essentially conning their way into every venue they appear at, is an amusing concept and certainly a feeling that many rockers must share during their darkest moments. Director Suki Hawley has a keen eye for the poetry of the open road and the tender, tenuous friendships that are forged in the early years of adulthood, when autonomy is gained but the desire to remain essentially teenaged lingers on. Half-Cocked will appeal mostly to those interested in the indie rock and punk scenes it depicts, but its unique texture and intrinsic honesty holds worth for the non-devotee as well. ~ Fred Beldin, All Movie Guide