The Idolmaker

The Idolmaker (1980)

  • 86% of critics liked it
    (7 reviews)

  • 74% of users liked it
    (933 ratings)

The story of Philadelphia-based rock 'n' roll starmaker Bob Marcucci is given a pointed a clef treatment in The Idolmaker. Ray Sharkey plays Vincent Vacarri, who takes a couple of raw young kids (Peter Gallagher and Paul Land) and molds them into teen idols. If Gallagher and Land seem at times to be… More

PG, 1 hr. 59 min.
Directed By
Taylor Hackford
Genres
Drama, Romance, Musical & Performing Arts
In Theaters
Nov 14, 1980 Wide
On DVD
Aug 15, 2001

Critic Reviews

  • Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

    Taylor Hackford showed his skills as a commercial director with his very first picture.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Adam M


    set in '61 but makes fun of 70s AM pop idols; Ray Sharkey, with his doughy mouth, plays it half cold Svengali, half sensitive child; ending number is such terrible shmaltz, it plants reservations about the whole movie, which has only escaped shmaltz by its brisk editing; the… More

  • Marion R


    I thought it was pretty cool. The songs were decent and I enjoyied watching such a driven character. My only gripe is that it ends in the "Hollywood" way.

  • Anthony V


    Interesting look at early rock.

Cast

See full cast

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