Based on the poster, I was expecting this to be an over the top, obvious parody of hair metal. Instead, this feels like an early precursor to the type of DIY, indie filmmaking that would become more popular in the 90s. The writing is pretty clever, often relying on an understated, dry, British sense of humor. It leaves no stone unturned when it comes to poking fun at the cliches that are associated with heavy metal and hard rock (e.g. lifestyles; sexualization; stupid lyricism; pretension; theatricality; tension within the band), most of which are easy targets, but Reiner constantly finds fresh, intelligent ways to present those ideas. Sometimes I wish he'd go a little further, but the best material here is still laugh out loud funny. The acting's fantastic, everyone knows exactly what type of film they're making. The story keeps a good pace and I really like the mockumentary style, which isn't used to cover up for poor filmmaking. My biggest problem is that the sum of all its parts doesn't really add up to something more, in terms of arcs and themes it could've been more ambitious. However, when your film has this many individual memorable bits, who really cares? Definitely one of the best comedies of the 80s.

8/10