Just perfect...

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

It's a huge shame this movie didn't get more recognition than it did... and that people these days have never heard of Eddie and his cruisers. That would be my 23 year old roommate (as of 2010). To her, these older movies are like finding a diamond in a box of Cracker Jacks.We already knew from the first movie that Eddie lived (shown at the very end). Even though I knew that fact, I found a profound sense of closure from this movie. We now get to see Joe/Eddie wrestle with his obsession for perfection and his love for music... with the music winning this time.Joe plays both the teacher and the student as he comes to terms with his past. I truly enjoyed watching Hilton, the saxophonist, guide Joe along the correct path while Joe, in turn, shows Rick the nuances of good music and truly great music. I think my favorite part is when Joe approaches Sal, to ask for his forgiveness. Or maybe when Hilton realizes who Joe really is? If you didn't see the first movie, a lot of this wouldn't make sense... but, that's how sequels work... right?Both 'Eddie and the Cruisers I & II' are movies that I have watched many times in the past and will watch many more times in the future. The music is both inspiring and haunting, the story is classic self- realization and comeback. I have to admit, at the end of the movie, I found the crowd's acceptance of Joe admitting he was truly Eddie Wilson to be a bit unrealistic.

An example of how not to do a sequel man.Its obvious that this script was thrown together at the last minute man. The dialogue is laughable man, and the direction is as well man.The original had some depth to it and a dark, mysterious aura. The sequel, not so much.The storyline is ridiculous. It takes place right where the first one left off. Eddie (or Joe if you will), who resides in Canada, still has his musical passion but is afraid of revealing himself as the true Eddie Wilson. To make matters worse, the last album he recorded has been released 20 years after he 'died', and Eddie Wilson is once again a hot topic in the music world. Eddie ends up in a bar one night and runs into some musicians, a sax player who reminds him of Wendell from the first movie, and a young (and highly annoying) guitarist. Eddie compliments the sax player and criticizes the guitarist and thus begins the makings of a new band. For some reason the next half hour of the movie is basically the young guitarist stalking and harassing Eddie about becoming a better musician. It's laughable how the kid always knows where Eddie is. He somehow knows he is a construction worker and at what site he is working. He knows he is at an art show with the boring love interest. He knows Eddie is at a roller skating rink, and so on. The scripted dialogue between the two goes something like this, "Hey man, leave me alone." "Come on man, I wanna learn." They eventually put a band together, but Eddie never believes they are ready to perform. "Come on man, we want to play." "No! We aren't ready man." After another half hour of bickering, the sax player (a Billy Dee Williams clone by the way) finally reveals he knows who Eddie is. This of course brings the band closer and Eddie caves in about performing.After all the build up of the great Eddie Wilson throughout the film, the big reveal at the end is less than climactic. The only hold over character from the first movie is Sal. I guess all the others knew better. There is a secondary story about a 'mystery' tape with Eddie performing on it, but surprisingly, it isn't needed.The music is okay. It does take up half of the movie (it helps alleviate the pain of the dialogue man) and I really liked the song played during the opening credits.Stick with the original, unless you really need a sip of nostalgia.

I first watched this movie on cable in the early 1990's. I was watering a neighbors indoor plants while she was on vacation. I walked into her living room, turned on the TV and started watering the plants. While I was going from plant to plant, I heard the sound of a voice and saxophone that just floored me, and drew me back into the living room.The movie/story is OK. It's kind of fun to watch, but has a lot to be desired. The characters are not very well rounded and the story is not very well written. Michael Pare is great in this.But what makes this movie is the music. The music is compelling and very well done. Garden Of Eden, alone, is fantastic.I'm hoping that by the time I get back to the NE, John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band will still be playing venues, and that I will finally get to see them.

The first one is a cult classic. Which i never see on TV for some reason. This one is probably the worse sequel i have ever watched. They even changed some scenes from the original, like the one on the beach where Eddie is talking to wordman, and in the original it was Tom Berenger, in this one it was Sal. I painfully had to watch this entire movie just to see where it went. Well it went right off the Driscoll bridge is where it went. They should of just left the original alone. Plus how could you do a sequel without Wordman and Joann. If your a fan on the first one and you are kicking around in your head to rent this one, do yourself a favor and find something else. Leave Eddie to your imagination.