Despite the constant flow of the ridiculous, I can’t help but be amused by the antics of Airheads. Though not directly of Saturday Night Live origin, Airheads feels much like an extended SNL skit – three failed rockers take over a radio station in order to get their song on the air.

Chazz (Brendan Frasier) is the leader of the band, struggling to get his song on the air and keep his girlfriend (Amy Locane) at the same time. Coen regular Steve Buscemi and SNL member Adam Sandler play the hapless guitarist and drummer who are just along for the ride.

The trio are remarkably similar to the trio of Spinal Tap: naïve and inexperienced, but taking themselves as serious as can be. Coincidently, Spinal Tap lead Michael McKean plays the wicked radio station owner, who wants to change the station from hard rock to easy listening.

There’s a lot of ideas about True Believer rock and rollerism vs. posers and money mongers throughout Airheads. Michael McKean and the record company executive Jimmy Wing (Judd Nelson) are the evil ones because they’re not about the music, and the band reveals the true identity of an undercover police officer because he chooses David Lee Roth over Van Halen (even though Roth sucked while Van Halen continued to rock). When the band is given the opportunity to lip-synch their own song, they turn down the offer. These guys are “for real”. None of the authentic rockness amounts to much, however, but it’s an amusing way to solicit sympathy for the band.

Though it’s often silly SNL type humor, it is often rather funny. SNLer Chris Farley is as funny as always as a police officer, and former Ghostbusters Ernie Hudson and Harold Ramis also play police officers. Seinfeld’s Kramer (Michael Richards) also ends up helping the police on the inside, which leads to the usual Michael Richards type slapstick. Cameos include Kurt Loder as himself, Lemmy of Motorhead, and the voice of Beavis and Butthead over the phone.

Innocent and amusing, Airheads doesn’t have a whole lot going for it beyond a handful of gags. Then again, any movie with Kurt Loder really can’t be that bad.

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