Austin's latest locally produced feature, "Radio Free Steve," is so inclusive on it's own inside jokes that it's really hard to tell what the hell is going on most of the time. The film's website and the people promoting the film are also way inside on the hoax. They seem to really enjoy just pretending and confusing everyone. The acting going on here isn't just on the screen.

The film, which was shot on video, is actually a fairly amusing premise. A geeky 30-something guy named Steve, who now works at a tape duplicating business, shows us a video/film he shot in 1984. In reality, of course, the footage has all been shot recently and so Steve is actually an actor who plays himself at his real age (early 20's) in the flashbacks and then puts on wig and make up for the modern day footage where he appears to be 30.

The supposed footage from 1984 is really atrocious - but this is intentional. A hypothetical renegade film gone awry, it finds the 20 year old Steve battling with his girlfriend and his filmmaking partner "Dirk" as he tries to make a film set in the post-apocalyptic future where he battles "mutants" while he broadcasts his own renegade talk show ramblings on the "airwaves." It's sort of a cross between "Smokey and the Bandit" and - um - some other B-Grade 80's sci-fi crap set in the future ("Mad Max?"). But here the FCC is the bad guy as they try to control the airwaves for no apparent reason. And Steve is the outlaw. It's all really a jumbled mess. Of course, it's supposed to be.

And not surprisingly, the supposed "real" world jumbles in with "Steve's" footage and soon we find him getting into real life situations that bleed into the video film he is supposedly shooting. His obnoxious girlfriend leaves mid- shoot. His friend, cameraman and cohort Dirk begins to have ideas of his own about what should happen in the film. Stuff like this continually sabotages his film within the film. And this is where the film starts to crumble. Too often the "supposed" events of 1984 are outside the realm of what is happening in 1984. It's too much background story jumbled in with the supposed "fiction" being shot. It gets far too confusing - and too amused with itself.

And then there's some convoluted mess, late in the film, where "Steve" (after a haircut, confusing us more as to who is who and what the hell is going on) attempts to go on a MTV style wannabee pirate television station and finds out that his beloved Hollywood is, in reality, just a bunch of crap. And even though this is seemingly supposed to be footage from 1984 (I think), the judges are some MTV guy and one of the bit players from "X Files," obvious 90's celebrities. There's this sort of stopping point where it's suggested that "new footage" is shot but then why does Steve look young again? And then get a haircut? I didn't get it.

For one thing, you can't really enjoy and appreciate "Radio Free Steve" unless you understand that it's an elaborate hoax and that all of the footage is new. That's a tough one for the uninitiated because the filmmakers have done an outstanding job of making this supposed 80's footage look truly retro. And while, in the long run, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out it's all a joke, by the time you do, you're too deeply into the film to pull it all apart and put it all back together. The filmmakers and promoters (who are, in fact, the same people) seem to enjoy blurring the line so much that it just gets jumbled into a big mess at times. And since trying to pick it apart really ruins any fun you might be able to get out of the film, it's best to just turn off logic and settle into the film. Just know it's all new footage and it's all an attempt to be clever and campy and have fun.

What is obviously good about the film is the music, the camp quality, the visuals and the main character. "Steve," whoever he truly is - and I'm too worn out to try and figure that out, is a wonderful hero. He's a typical Bubba, but he's having a blast. It's fun too watch him. His joy is infectious. If only the real filmmakers would have attempted to keep some semblance of reality going on in the film, his actions could have been so much more engrossing. Too often the film is bogged down in it's own inability to remain coherent and the actors suffer from this.

The visuals and the campiness almost go hand in hand as several unique and several obvious 80's moded video techniques are used in the film. Washed out skylines and electronically enhanced yellow-orange background colors often make the film seem exactly like a 80's video filmmaker's attempt to produce a post-nuclear image. (Remember BowWowWow's "I Want Candy" video?) The costumes and the props are often straight out of the 80's. (I guess the 80's are retro now). And the exterior (and many of the interior) locations are often really cool and perfect. An early segment in some sort of remote and desolated locale actually looks quite post-apocalyptic. It would be interesting to know where some of these scenes were shot. And there are funny graphics in the film as well that are made using 80's technology including silly camcorder "titles" that superimpose phrases like "Steve Suxx" over shots.

And the music is just fab. The Friends of Dean Martinez provide some really perfect and unique tunes to accentuate the film. This film opens me up to another Austin band that I would like to hear more from and know more about. The soundtrack album from "Radio Free Steve" might be quite fun. In addition to several local bands, the filmmakers somehow even manage to acquire the rights to Jerry Reed's "East Bound and Down" from "Smokey and the Bandit" and to Mister Mister's classic 80's tune "Broken Wings." The latter is used to quite amusing effect.

"Radio Free Steve" could be a really wonderful film but it goes on far too long. At least 20 minutes could be edited out of it. There's an extended sequence at the end where Steve gives Hollywood the finger over and over. It's dumb. (And it won't help you sell the film, kids) In fact, there's at least two other scenes where giving the finger goes on and on. There's also a breakdance segment that is amusing but far too long and a extended joke at a hippie commune that really tries one's patience.

But the most glaring problem is the inability of the filmmaker's to make this jumbled film, set in three different time settings, truly flow. Why would the modern-day Steve allow the "new" filmmakers in 1999 to see all the old footage that makes him look bad? It doesn't make sense that he used his "real" story more than his "fiction" film if he actually edited the old footage. I suppose Steve is supposed to be a "bad" filmmaker. But it should be more obvious in the beginning that this is the case. Perhaps that would have to be done is for Steve to just give the new editors all the raw footage to play with rather than a supposed finished film. I don't know. There has to be a more clear line between the back story and the back back story. Whew - now I'm confused.

That flaw aside, and some trimming here and there, and "Radio Free Steve" would be a the next classic underground Austin film.

Note:

Official website is http://www.radiofreesteve.com

More of Lodger's reviews indexed alphabetically! Just click your favorite letter to go there.

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

HOME