Sheer, unbridled, let it all hang out somethin' crazy lunacy is the order of the day in this raucous rock'n'roll comedy which features the almighty Meatloaf in a disarmingly sweet and robust performance as Travis W. Redfish, a naive, innocent, but eager, resourceful and quick-thinking Texas hillbilly whose natural skillfulness with electronic equipment gets him a gig as a dependable roadie supreme on a frantic traveling rock show. Redfish's off-beat initiation into the sprawling fracas of the manic, anything-goes nuttiness and rootlessness of the peripatetic rock'n'roll lifestyle hooks him up with flighty underage aspiring groupie Lola Bouillabaisse (an endearingly daffy'n'dippy portrayal by thin, perky, squeaky-voiced "Porky's" film regular Kaki Hunter),who wants to surrender her virginity to Alice Cooper.

Artsy-fartsy art-house pic maestro Alan Rudolph's uncommonly boisterous, freewheeling, wild-spirited direction allows the skimpy plot to spiral delightfully out of control, punctuating the goofy, insane and increasingly surreal mayhem with mondo destructo car chases, frenzied barroom fights, divinely asinine dope humor, and hilariously crude dumb redneck gags. Besides the two terrific leads, the excellent supporting cast includes Art Carney as Redfish's cranky inventor pop, "Soul Train"'s Don Cornelious as a mean promoter, Joe Spano as a sleazy manager, Gailard Sartain as a rowdy truck driver, and Sonny Carl Davis (Cowboy in the splendid seriocomic indie sleeper "Last Night at the Alamo")as a perpetually inebriated hanger-on. Moreover, there are uniformly outstanding musical appearances by Hank Williams, Jr., Roy Orbison (in one of the movie's funniest moments Roy and Hank pacify a brawling tavern audience by breaking into an impromptu a cappella duet on "The Eyes of Texas"!),Ramblin' Jack Elliot, Asleep at the Wheel, Blondie (who do a great thrashy New Wave rave-up rendition of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire"),and, of course, Alice Cooper. In short, this gloriously gaga, sometimes downright bizarre, and frequently berserk romp certainly has the correct right-on rambunctious rock'n'roll attitude, thereby making it one of Alan Rudolph's breeziest, more accessible, most unpretentious and hence quite hugely enjoyable pictures that he's ever made.

Four years after making his directorial debut with the art-house snoozer "Welcome To L.A.", Alan Rudolph shows us what he really wanted from Hollywood was to be one of the guys. "Roadie" is a frat-boy fracas complete with barroom brawls, horny harpies, Art Carney in a souped-up wheelchair...and Meat Loaf at the wheel. Meat Loaf (playing Travis W. Redfish!) is actually a rather charming presence on the screen, and perhaps in a smaller role (in a better movie) he might indeed be ingratiating, but Zalman King's script is full of stereotypical redneck humor and helpless Meat Loaf is kept wide-eyed and moronic. Alice Cooper, Roy Orbison, Hank Williams, Jr., and Blondie all make appearances--and all look embarrassed. They certainly should, "Roadie" is one bad trip. NO STARS from ****

Roadie is a slow, lackluster experience from an actor who could have the potential to do a very funny slapstick film. Meat Loaf has the charisma, attitude, appearance, and ability to play a character in a buddy comedy. Alas, Roadie is not that movie. And it's not really any movie.

The problem is a typical one for comedies in the eighties; they don't know what they want to be. Roadie could've been one of three things; a musical with performances by many great people like Alice Cooper and Hank Williams Jr., a deep character study into Meat Loaf's Travis W. Redfish character, or a buddy comedy involving one making it big, the other left to eat dust. This reminds me of Footloose in the sense that all of its intentions, when focused on their own, could've been successful. But morphing them all into one wasn't.

Travis W. Redfish (Loaf) is a Texas man who has a talent for fixing any and all pieces of equipment. Instruments, trucks, machines, etc. His unique talent gets him a job with as a roadie. The only reason Redfish takes the job is because of a sexy woman named Lola (Hunter) who basically reals him in with her eyes and along for the ride.

The musical numbers are nice, yet far too short. The acting is decent, but sub-par all around, Loaf is nice, but not fully shown, and the script is inconsistent and sometimes dreadfully boring. What could've made Roadie work? Only a major tuneup in the screenplay area? I find it surprising to read that it took four people to write this film. Maybe there was a lot of indecisiveness and compromises among them.

Starring: Meat Loaf and Kari Hunter. Directed by: Alan Rudolph.