Review of Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1982) by Michael L — 20 Jul 2009
Diane Lane is one of my favorite actresses. Simply because she began in an era of the 80s that I loved, and as she matured, her acting never soured. Diane was catching Hollywood by storm at the age of 14, commanding a strong lead in "A Little Romance", and gracing the cover of TIME magazine. She would make an even bigger name for herself as time went on. But "Stains" is a great reference point because it captures her new wave/punk rock involvement at the time. This, and "Streets of Fire" are the two strongest representatives of that era in Diane's career.
The movie itself is another rock and roll rise-and-fall movie about a band. There are some cliches thrown in about overnight success. (It's almost literal in this story.) And the music is acquired taste for most. (I liked it, but I can't promise that you will.).
Nonetheless, it's a good nostalgia trip back to the punk rock 1980s. Appropriately enough, they recruited former Sex Pistols alumni Steve Jones and Paul Cook, and former Clash bassist Paul Simonon to have feature roles in this one. Lead singer of The Tubes, Fee Waybill, is also in this film and is fantastic.
Be sure to watch out for Brent "I was Data in Star Trek TNG" Spiner, Christine Lahti, and a young Laura Dern.
It's not for everyone. But it's a pretty good film.
This review of Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1982) was written by Michael L on 20 Jul 2009.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains has generally received positive reviews.
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