Half-Cocked (film)
1994 film
Half-Cocked is a cult music road movie, made in 1994 in Louisville, Nashville and Chattanooga. The movie tells the story of a group of high school teens who steal a van full of music equipment and pretend to be a band, called "Truckstop" (played by the band Rodan) in order to stay on the road. When the band starts playing gigs, their sound is largely inconsistent and incoherent, however, over time, the band becomes increasingly competent in their musicianship. The film puts much emphasis on the indie/alternative rock subculture.
Many notable indie rock bands, such as Rodan, Polvo, Grifters, Freakwater, Versus, Slant 6, Unwound, Helium, Sleepyhead, Crain, and Ruby Falls are featured in the movie. Members of Rodan and Grifters play in the movie as well as acting. It had a small run on VHS and was unavailable for years until its 2007 re-release on DVD. A soundtrack of the movie appeared on Matador Records.
Synopsis
Tara Jane O'Neil is growing weary of her life at the Rocket House, a party pad filled with crashing slackers, artists, and rock bands. She works as a ticket taker at a movie theatre and hangs out with a group of friends who are equally aimless, skateboarding through the streets of Louisville, KY, and just generally waiting for their lives to start. Her brother, Otis (Ian Svenonius), is the arrogant lead singer of a local rock group called the Guilloteens (played by other members of Svenonius' band, Make-Up).
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Half-Cocked (film)” as 1994 film. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1994 film. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5641563. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1994 and 2007.
Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Half-Cocked (film)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Half-Cocked (film) primary sources, Half-Cocked (film) archive and Half-Cocked research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Half-Cocked (film)”?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Half-Cocked (film)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.