Wayne's World succeeds because it comes at its subject from all sides, nailing its comedy targets square on and not losing an essential sense of sweetness. Myers and Carvey understand their characters well and keep them consistent. Wayne and Garth are well-intentioned suburban guys who didn't make it in school and are trying to have lives beyond their dead end fast-food jobs. They're too ambitious to be losers, but their dreams are all based on infantile obsessions with rock musicians like Alice Cooper, who makes a nice personal appearance. Garth suffers more obviously from a case of ingrown self-esteem, but Wayne too hides his personal sense of worthlessness behind an energetic flood of affectations and buzz-phrases. Typically, they consistently react to humiliating circumstances with cheerful grins and poses meant to deflect the pain ... the key to their place in the universe is their abject 'we're not worthy' abasement before any celebrity who crosses their path. In short, they're neither perfect nor cruel, and come off as completely loveable.

It's the basic truth of the character setup that persists ... Garth and Wayne remind us not only of amusing friends in school, but ourselves. Who hasn't driven in a car, singing like an idiot to your favorite song, but feeling like a million dollars 'cause you're with friends and having a great time?

Some inspired casting helps considerably. Tia Carrere is a forthright and uncomplicated love interest. Rob Lowe's particularly slimy villain plays off his real-life bad boy image, more than anything particularly evil he does in the film. Chris Farley does a nice bit as an exposition-loaded security guard. Faces like Ione Skye, Donna Dixon, and Meat Loaf pop up, and Robert Patrick provides a nice sting as a motorcycle cop, in a deft reference to Terminator 2.

On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor,
Wayne's World rates:
Movie:Very Good
Video: Excellent
Sound: Excellent
Supplements: Trailer, Commentary by Penelope Spheeris, cast and crew interviews.
Packaging: Keep case
Reviewed: August 4, 2001