High school and the 1970s have been the hot topics of fin de siècle Hollywood. In Detroit Rock City they meet head on, with a bit of road movie and country-mouse comedy thrown in for good measure. With only the soundtrack to nail down the period, there's a universality about the adventures of four lads bunking off to Motown for a rock concert. Anxieties about virginity and parent problems are laid to rest as manliness is exerted, toilets explode and disco gets trashed. But the inevitabilities are given nostalgic bravura by the pace and idiosyncrasy of Mousehunt writer Adam Rifkin's direction.

In 1978, a Kiss concert was an epoch-making event. For the four teen fans in Detroit Rock City getting tickets to the sold-out show becomes the focal point of their existence. They'll do anything for tickets -- compete in a strip club's amateur-night contest, take on religious protesters, even rob a convenience store!