Tapeheads

R

1988

1 hr. 37 min.

Comedy

List

60%

15 Reviews

Tomatometer

46%

2,500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Unemployed pals Ivan (John Cusack) and Josh (Tim Robbins) decide to start Video Aces, a company that produces music videos. Their initial clients include Billy and Lester Diamond, members of the music group The Swanky Modes, whose careers have slowed since their heyday during the '70s. As the Video Aces crew attempts to revive The Swanky Modes' careers by staging and broadcasting a concert, they also have to deal with the unwanted attention of a conservative politician (Clu Gulager).

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Flick F

This is a sleeper cult movie. I really enjoy this movie and I love to revisit it from time to time. A young John Cusack and Tim Robbins. It screams 80's and that's part of what I love about this movie. If you haven't seen it, take a chance.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/25/23

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Naz H

I laughed so much. It's a really smart and funny movie that stands the rest of time.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/04/23

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Audience Member

An 80s hipster movie, it both reveres and satirizes the music video-fueled pop culture of the 1980s with humour and smarts.. It was too smart for its time. It's the "High Fidelity" of the 80s (featuring two of High Fidelity's actors).

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

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Audience Member

A seriously funny gem from the late 80s

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/24/23

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Audience Member

Swanky Modes! These two ordinary guys with ordinary jobs decide it is time for a career move in the music industry as music video directors. They meet with a producer and they make a deal but their first project has to be made on the director's own dime. They get some pointers and start heading down their dream path to success. "They sold more records in Sweden than Abba!" Bill Fishman, director of Car 54, Where are You?; Desperate but Not Serious; and My Dinner with Jimi; delivers Tapeheads. The storyline for this picture is lacking in a UHF kind of way. I was disappointed with the content and characters. I thought it would be more clever. The cast includes John Cusack, Tim Robbins, Mary Crosby, Katy Boyer, and Jessica Walter. "There's only one thing that provides real production value...tits and ass!" I grabbed this movie off Netflix because I had never heard of this John Cusack/Tim Robbins collaboration. Well, I kind of wish I never had. This was terrible and a worst version of UHF. I recommend skipping this. "Sometimes it's difficult to believe a slut." Grade: D

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

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Audience Member

I love this movie! Granted this isn't for everyone but for me and my group of friends, this was/is a cult classic. It's a silly film, take it for what it's worth and the time at which it was made.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

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Bill Fishman

Director

John Cusack

Ivan Alexeev

Tim Robbins

Josh Tager

Doug McClure

Sid Tager

Connie Stevens

June Tager

Clu Gulager

Norman Mart

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33%

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Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

A painful attempt to satirize the making of rock videos that runs aground with a puerile plot and bombastic, self-infatuated delivery.

Nov 6, 2009

Full Review

Time Out

It's all good fun: likeable performances, unpretentious, larky direction, and a haphazard story.

Feb 9, 2006

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Janet Maslin

New York Times

The amiable screenplay by Mr. Fishman and Peter McCarthy is often funny, and never worse than silly.

Rated: 3/5

May 20, 2003

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Film4

Ignored both at the cinema and on tape, this is a gem that is as happy sending up the music video world as it is poking fun at politics.

Nov 6, 2009

Full Review

TV Guide

A wacky, high-energy satire of the music business.

Rated: 3/4

Nov 6, 2009

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

It's the kind of harmless breezy film that's easy to take on late night cable TV when you don't feel like using your noodle.

Rated: C+

Sep 22, 2009

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Synopsis

Unemployed pals Ivan (John Cusack) and Josh (Tim Robbins) decide to start Video Aces, a company that produces music videos. Their initial clients include Billy and Lester Diamond, members of the music group The Swanky Modes, whose careers have slowed since their heyday during the '70s. As the Video Aces crew attempts to revive The Swanky Modes' careers by staging and broadcasting a concert, they also have to deal with the unwanted attention of a conservative politician (Clu Gulager).

Director: Bill Fishman
Production Co: De Laurentiis, Pacific Arts
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 30, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $129.0K
Sound Mix: Surround