Tapeheads features two inseparable friends living out a loser existence with no end in sight. Ivan and Josh secure a series of dead end jobs after high school until it becomes clear that the only thing they’re good at is creating videos. With nothing to loose, they jump into the world of music videos full force accepting any and all jobs in an effort to get their names known. With a little luck they meet the right people and secure fame through misinterpreting their skills and exposing their connections. Their creativity comes into play when they are forced into a corner with the unknowingly vital piece of information they have in their hands regarding a government candidate. They break the news worldwide and accept the fame and blame that goes along with making it to the top.
This film is able to maintain a well-sustained sense of insanity suitable to any 80’s film playing to a younger demographic. The two boys’ unacceptable behavior is unrestricted and wild, but seemingly commonplace among the farce-like settings surrounding them. It’s interesting how movies such as this one take a view from not normally seen areas of life and expose it in great detail just long enough to throw in some slapstick to hold together the story. What you’re left with is an intensified sense of play locked into a loose central plot that goes absolutely nowhere. What it lacks in story, it makes up for in unrelenting mockery of the decade it hails from. The film is able to grasp the superficial and eccentric pop music of the late 80’s through a series of songs and videos dedicated to different genres born from this time. What seems dated now was more commonplace in an era known for decadence. An interesting approach to more of the political leanings of the film is the thrown around idea of Soviet takeover. It’s understandably noted due to the high volume of Russian traffic on the American news airways at the time, but doesn’t have any place in this light romp whatsoever. John Cusack and Tim Robbins friendship comes across wonderfully as they play up each other’s faults and strengths throughout the movie and suffer through their high range of emotions in each situation. The movie succeeds in bringing a tale of humbly making it to the top of one’s game while maintaining the idealistic dreams of youth in its wake. It proves that you don’t have to always work hard for what you want; you just have to want it bad enough.
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