A hot American rock band hide out at the posh country estate of the stuffy Lord Foxley (delightfully played by Peter O'Toole) and his kindly wife Lady Foxley (a fine and dignified performance by Joan Plowright), who are forced to pass themselves off as measly servants due to financial dire straights. Meanwhile, spunky new bass player Nat (a winningly sparky portrayal by Alicia Silverstone) faces opposition from several group members after she replaces the original frontman who has mysteriously disappeared. Directed with a rather unsteady hand by usually reliable veteran Sidney J. Furie and further marred by a pretty sloppy script by Mark Mills, this somewhat uneasy, yet still lively and hence entertaining blend of comedy and drama never quite manages to find a completely consistent tone and throws way too many narrative threads into the air without getting them to cohere in a wholly satisfying way, but nevertheless somehow oddly works thanks primarily to the spot-on wonderful chemistry between O'Toole and Plowright. Moreover, the sound acting by the able cast holds the picture together: Jaimz Woolvett as charming songwriter Leo, Keram Malicki-Sanchez as the moody Flit, Christopher Bolton as the groovy Carl, Lochlyn Munro as amiable stoner drummer Dave, Martin Clune as shifty record company executive James Chancellor, Amy Phillips as the sweet Georgia, and Alex Karzis as arrogant jerk Ben. A flawed, but overall fun little film.

***Spoiler alert*** Yes this movie is predictable and definitely not award-material. But then it doesn't try to be anything it is not. A fun-filled romp with real funny one-liners, a stellar and very funny performance by Peter O'Toole, a grounding and down to earth performance from Joan Plowright. The band's performance was on the spot, each one playing their role in a deft, comical manner. The music was good though not great but filled out the movie nicely. From some of the negative comments I deduced that the subtlety of some of the humour went over their heads. A good example is the comment about the "strange baseball-like game", well my dear American, that was cricket -from which baseball is derived- and the explaining of it to the ignorant US band was very funny for those that do know cricket. Also no, you were not supposed to wince when Carl broke a window; it was funny how Lord Foxley said "oh yes!" to get more money for breakage and the manager said at the same time "oh no" also referring to the money. Jeez, it seems that every joke must be explained to some people... All-in-all I enjoyed it and had some great laughs! Well worth seeing.

Within the first 10 minutes of the movie, I know it's going to be a major disappointment. Just because the very sexy and cute Alicia Silverstone is in it, does not mean it can be saved, and the viewer knows it immediately! The perky, plucky, comedic music playing as the crude bunch invades the palace gives you the idea that something funny is about to happen; wrong.The band assembles in a mansion furnished with very expensive items, only to have a bunch of punks come in and immediately disrespect the place... and the old man, Lord Foxley (O'Toole)... as the young idiots play with fencing swords in his face. I find it hard to swallow that a fellow of his stature would allow such behavior.The movie continues with the silly antics of the group. Some scenes seem to have nothing to do with the movie at all, and should have been left on the cutting room floor. There's an outdoor lunch where the Lord plays butler and pours wine for the crew. Don't all Lords treat company this way? I already know at this point in the film that the "Ol' Folks" will become attached to these youngsters, however rude, obnoxious, inappropriate, and downright belligerent they are. One of the youngsters assists "Milady" in the kitchen. She compliments him by stating that she couldn't have done it without his help, where upon the guy states that "I'm gonna get me some tonight!" This proper IL' gal is about 85 years old. The thought of this idiot "getting some" from the "Grandma" is thoroughly disgusting! At this point, there have been 3 commercial breaks and I'm ready to channel surf! However, I stick with it just to try to comprehend the sheer ignorance of the movie altogether. Somebody really wrote this thinking it's somehow charming?As the Lord works in his garden, the beanie-headed bad boy gets chased by the Irish Setter, who doesn't hardly comes across as being at all a "Cujo". As a matter of fact, when they film the dog supposedly chasing the guy, you see instead the dog running along side wagging his tail. And the point of the chase was...? Surprisingly enough, the rock music they play is really pretty good. As "Benson" (they've penned the Lord) plays some type of baseball game with the crew, one hits the ball hard enough to break a window in the mansion. I got the feeling that I was supposed to cringe at that. I'm wondering how I'm supposed to feel at this point of the movie. I'm thinking "what waste of money on the whole production of the flick". We continue with the blonde drummer driving a tractor erratically to the pond (smoking a joint), where upon he spots "something" in the pond. He calls everyone to the pond where we see a young lady skinny-dipping in the pond. It's the Lords niece. When the Lord returns to the home with the Misses, he laughs at her being caught. Milady is surprised to see the Lord "laughing so much lately". I guess I'd have to laugh too if I'd found myself in such a worthless project. Peter O'Toole has been one of our finest actors. I'm wondering if he really read the script before accepting the part.Following, a jam session turns into a heated argument over something; I don't understand the squabble that sends the band members in different directions. Drummer boy goes to chat with Milady and explains that he's too stoned to continue conversation. The rest of the crew join in the parlor the play a game of billiards. OK, I can't take it anymore. This flick couldn't hold the attention of a prisoner who's spent 2 years in solitary confinement. And after an hour of trying to follow what might be a plot, I've given up.A previous reviewer talks about the poor film-making; inappropriate pans, fades, cuts, and overall lame cinematography. I concur. This is one of the worst "comedies" I've had the misfortune of coming across in quite some time. No wonder it's on 3:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning.

The fact that I write a report means something, I'd say. I never did this before, so the movie certainly had an impact on me. Maybe Ice Age is funnier, but this was a really nice surprise to spend my Sunday morning. I never heard of the movie but this was funny, lots of good music and good acting (even for actors I didn't like that much in the past).I've seen a lot of movies the last couple of years, and there are always people complaining, but please make more movies like this one instead of naked-gun or police academy kind of rubbish ...Keep up the good work!! Tim