Amazon.com video review:
In the suburban hinterlands of Arizona, pirate-radio DJ Hard Harry
wages a one-man war against boredom from his bedroom transmitter by
night. In between great Lenny Bruce-style stream-of-consciousness
rants, Harry attacks the airwaves with the likes of the Descendents,
Bad Brains, and Concrete Blonde, as well as occasionally kickin' it old
school with some early hip-hop. By day, though, Hard Harry is Mark
Hunter, a painfully shy new kid who's anonymous to the point of being
invisible at Hubert Humphrey High School. Completely misunderstood by
his '60s-era parents, Mark is desperate to keep his radio alter ego
separate from his day-to-day persona, especially as his radio shows draw
more attention from the authorities. Fellow misfit Nora (Samantha
Mathis, in her first feature role) eventually discovers Hard Harry's true
identity,
much to Mark's chagrin, and the two of them become torchbearers
against the stifling status quo of the town as they dodge the police,
the school administration, and the FCC. There are familiar high school
authority archetypes (the assistant principal with clip-on tie,
lemon-yellow K-Mart short-sleeved dress shirt, military flattop, and
bulky key ring) and a rather strained subplot of a corrupt school
administration. Mainly, though, this is a rousing teen call-to-arms
that showcases Slater's talents as he developed the cynical, sarcastic
neo-Jack Nicholson delivery that would become his trademark. He's at his
best during his radio monologues (making them truly seem ad-libbed), and
his influences become clear as he checks out a copy of How to Talk
Dirty and Influence People from the library. --Jerry Renshaw
