There are plenty of fine places to look for the spirit of rock 'n' roll, but, as enjoyable as they frequently are, rock 'n' roll movies are seldom among them. Usually produced as mainstream cash-ins to lure kids to the theater, rock films from Girls, Girls, Girls to Breakin' often marginalize their music in formulaic plots that also tend to remove any elements of danger. All of which makes the 1978 film FM, just re-released on video in a widescreen format, all the more peculiar: It gets the standard rock-movie formula backwards by trying to base a revolution around some of the safest, least revolutionary music in the history of rock. Michael Brandon, playing one of the most uninteresting incarnations of the '70s anti-hero, stars as the head of QSKY, a rock station that prides itself on non-commerciality. The central, never-addressed mystery of FM is that it does so while its DJs—whose ranks include Martin Mull, Eileen Brennan, and Cleavon Little—fill the L.A. airwaves with the sounds of REO Speedwagon, Foreigner, Boston, Foghat, and The Doobie Brothers while encouraging the ideals-free, laid-back, post-hippie California lifestyle. Nonetheless, Brandon, possibly fearing that the sound of his own wheels might drive him crazy, takes a stand when the station's corporate big-wigs attempt to water things down by over-selling commercial time and airing promos encouraging his listeners to join the army. This conflict culminates in a showdown with police, but not before the requisite amount of PG-style jokes about sex and drugs, and concert segments featuring Jimmy Buffett and Linda Ronstadt, have been incorporated into the plot. Through it all, veteran cinematographer John Alonzo, in his only feature directorial effort, tries to sustain an Altman-esque vibe, though so many characters and subplots disappear and reappear with little explanation that it doesn't last long. FM is likely to please only those who find incendiary power in the sound of Joe Walsh's voice backed by a bland pseudo-reggae instrumental track.