PLANET SICK-BOY: http://www.sick-boy.com
There are basically three groups of people that would like this film. The first would be fans of similar apocalyptic films (anything made by Gregg Araki). The second group would be adult males between the ages of, say, 25 and 32, that were not into `The Joshua Tree' when it came out. Lastly, squealing fans of spastic actor Matthew Lillard may also enjoy the movie. And, no – I only fit into the first two categories.
The lizard-like Lillard (Wing Commander) plays Stevo, a nihilistic teenager growing up in Salt Lake City (thus the S.L.C. of the title) during the mid ‘80s. He's a punk, but has little to rebel against, admitting in the film's opening line that `to be an anarchist in Salt Lake City was pretty hard.' Luckily, Stevo can still dye his hair blue, beat up rednecks (the S.L.C. punk's mortal enemy) and hang around with his best friend, the mohawked Heroin Bob (Michael A. Goorjian, Justin on TV's Party of Five). Don't worry, Bob doesn't really do heroin. He's afraid of needles and the name is a joke.
S.L.C. Punk!, written and directed by James Merendino (Livers Ain't Cheap), has a fantastic soundtrack, featuring The Ramones, Black Flag and Minor Threat. In fact, the opening credits are a bit of a tribute to Black Flag, showing all of the band's album covers changed slightly to accommodate the names of the film's talent. Especially funny was Til Schweiger's (The Replacement Killers) album, which was stamped `import,' as he is German.
Lillard will probably never be better than he is here – a bored, snotty, upper-middle-class twerp with A.D.D. and parents intent on him going to Harvard Law School, while he would rather beat the piss out of everybody in the name of rebellion. The movie is almost filmed in a documentary style, with Stevo often narrating to the camera, describing why he and his friends are doing what they're doing. He also points out the different `tribes' in S.L.C., like the Mods, who would be somewhat equivalent to the Socials in The Outsiders. But rest assured that S.L.C. Punk!'s young cast isn't anywhere near the hotbed of talent found in Francis Ford Coppola's film, although Lillard is often as endearing as a young C. Thomas Howell. (1:37 – R for adult language, drug use, violent anti-social behavior and some sexuality)
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