Michael J. Fox and Joan Jett are an unlikely sibling twosome, living in Cleveland with Jett's illegitimate kid and hoping to get their rock-and-roll band off the ground (Fox struggles with an underwritten character, at once rebellious and responsible, while Jett talks with a thick, streetwise drawl suggesting she's from the opposite side of town). This downbeat movie has none of the spirit of Joan Jett's rock videos from the 1980s; a few of the camera set-ups are good, but the locations aren't especially well-captured and the music--integral to the story--isn't strong enough to provide the necessary uplift the soapy plot desperately needs. Fox has a solid scene fighting with his sister over her boy, although a whole sequence with him quitting the band over a shoplifting incident doesn't wash. Gena Rowlands is admirable as their mother (with a medical condition!), but there's too much of her and this plot-thread fails to build momentum. "Back to the Future" fans passed on this, and who can blame them? Despite being a personal project from writer-director Paul Schrader, his handling is pedestrian, sometimes awkward or unsure, and his dialogue doesn't have the canny ring of truth--it's all a blue-collar cliché. ** from ****
Review of Light of Day
