Telling Lies in America

It's 1960 and Renfro's Hungarian immigrant teen determines to get into the pants of winsome co-worker Flockhart by having his name mentioned on the 'High School Hall of Fame' by Cleveland's top DJ, Billy Magic (Bacon). Whizz kid Billy is so impressed by Renfro's denial that he sent in several hundred nomination cards himself that he makes the lad his assistant. These are the days of payola, but young Master Sheltered Life is unaware of the significance of the envelopes he passes to his boss from sundry shady types. And since he and his dad (Schell) are applying for US citizenship, trouble with the police is the last thing he wants. Bacon revels in the greased back hair, flip on-air patter and ersatz R&B stylings on the soundtrack, but it's absolutely no surprise that his icon of cool turns out to be a dud. Director Ferland can only move the elements of the hackneyed plot (by Joe Eszterhas) into place and hope we like Bacon enough not to notice.