Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
 

Rude Awakening (1989)

Director: Aaron Russo, David Greenwalt

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

After 20 years 'out to grass' in Central America, draft-dodgers Jesus (Marin) and Fred (Roberts) wake up to modern political reality when they find the body of a CIA agent whose suitcase contains secret plans for a full-scale American invasion of Managuador. Realising that when they dropped out they also copped out, they instantly resume radical politics and return to New York to spill the beans. To their horror, their far-out pals now pursue respectable careers while enjoying the consumerist benefits of post-Reagan capitalism. A string of unrelated skits masquerading as a plot, this is a feeble one-joke movie: idealistic hippies culture-shocked by yuppie lifestyles, nuclear power, the ozone layer, acid rain and, most heinous of all, the colorisation of black-and-white movies. Only Louise Lasser, as the vivacious owner of the Nouveau Woodstock vegetarian restaurant, gives any hint of what might have been achieved with a little imagination.

Author: NF 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields


Cast & crew

Director: Aaron Russo, David Greenwalt

Producer: Aaron Russo

Cast: Cheech Marin, Eric Roberts, Robert Carradine, Buck Henry, Louise Lasser, Cindy Williams, Andrea Martin, Cliff De Young, Julie Hagerty full cast

Genre(s): Comedy

Duration: 100 mins


Features

Making a name for himself

Making a name for himself

Sin Nombre's Cary Joji Fukunaga learned his lessons well.

To the letter

Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.

Mind over matter

David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.

Fool's gold

Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.

We are the championed

Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."

A history of violence

Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.

True romantic

James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.

Playing in the dark

MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.

Junk bonds

Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.