Roadracers and Shout

A "What'dya Got?" attitude and Rockabilly guitar licks can only mean one thing: 50's rebel pictures. Shout was John Travolta's pre-Tarantino attempt at a comeback in 1991, and 1994's Roadracers was a made-for-cable cheapie done by Quentin's pal Robert Rodriguez between El Mariachi and Desperado.

Through sheer will-power, Shout manages to rise above the clichÈd "troubled boys in reform school discover Rock and Roll with the help of ultra cool band director" plot line. It becomes instead that bizarre brand of picture enjoyable partially in spite of and partially because of the sheer unoriginality of all of the material. Besides Travolta, the film's cast includes former 90210 rocker Jamie Walters, a pre-Boogie Nights/post-Drugstore Cowboy Heather Graham, femme in black Linda Fiorentino, and Academy Award Winner Gwyneth Paltrow in a thankfully silent role.

In Roadracers, David Arquette and Salma Hayek fill out the lead roles of teen lovers who can't find peace in a square small town. Keep an eye out for the great sidekick character of The Nixer (John Hawkes); Rodriguez fans will remember him as the liquor store clerk store who gets toasted in the opening of From Dusk 'Till Dawn.

Both pictures are rockabilly rebel flicks complete with hard-ass sheriffs out to get the boys who just want to play that devil music. Beautifully photographed and earnestly acted, Shout embodies the guilty pleasures of B-movies, while Roadracers' young performers benefit from masterful cutting by Rodriguez. So smoke an unfiltered Lucky Strike, comb your pomp up high and settle in for a night of 50's teen-rebel angst.

Jordan Rosa

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