Brendan Fraser, Steve Buscemi and baby Adam Sandler play a trio of daft wannabe rockstars, frustrated by their metal band’s lack of recognition, who barge into an L.A. radio station and hold the staff hostage until their demo tape is transmitted to the masses. A long line of technical mishaps cause the ordeal to drag on, but media coverage of the event draws a crowd and, if not for the reasons they intended, the group does inevitably earn their elusive fifteen minutes of fame.

It’s wild that a film so loaded with star power can also feel so flat and underachieving. In addition to the three well-known leads, _Airheads_ includes sizable parts for Chris Farley, Michael McKean, Michael Richards and Judd Nelson, though only McKean’s character really plays to his strengths. The rest are just familiar faces jammed into a string of stiff, sterile, dressed-up supporting roles. No room to incorporate any of their characteristic charms or unique capabilities. Farley doesn’t even get the chance to work any physical comedy. What’s the point? At least McKean’s lame station manager, complete with wimpy little ponytail and slimy, unbuttoned silk shirt, gets ample opportunity to offend.

_Airheads_ can’t decide if it wants to be a mean-spirited satire (like McKean’s far preceding _Spinal Tap_) or an easy, one-note comedy (akin to _Dumb and Dumber_ from the same year). Instead, it tries to do both and adequately accomplishes neither. The punchlines are too flat and rudimentary for the former, but the script’s tone is too disdainful for the latter. Apart from Ernie Hudson, who works a shift as the weary police officer in charge of the scene, every cast member is painted with the same brush. Too shallow, or stupid, or out-of-touch to be truly sympathetic. It’s a film that proudly boasts its contempt for all corners of society: the clueless kids trying to work a hustle, their idiotic prospective fanbase, the arrogant DJ who isn’t as big a deal as he thinks, the deceptive poseur working the back office, the insecure SWAT guy in need of anger management... the list is exhaustive. A grumpy, irritable picture that hates everything, including itself, it’s not near as much fun as it could’ve been.