SUBURBIA
A film review by Lewis Butler
Copyright 1997 Lewis Butler
In Short: This movie reminds me off several other movies, a sort of sub-
genre of teen-angst films. It owes little to PRETTY IN PINK and
more to CLERKS. The action, what there is, centers around a
group of recent High School graduates who hang around outside
the local Circle K. Er. Circle A. Though it is often
predicatable and more than a little preachy, the film manages
to deliver, thanks in part to some decent acting. A +1 on the
ol' -4 to +4 scale (0 is average).
A sort of cross between AMERICAN GRAFITTI and CLERKS, subUrbia (note the capitalization of the central you -- er, 'u') dosen't have a lot in the way of action, and the plot unwinds itself slowly. There are many nice touches, not least of which is the "Circle A" convenience store. The film is peppered subtly with anarchy symbols hiding in background grafitti, and anarchy comes through as a central theme. There is an essential lawlessness in this movie. The police are shown as ineffectual, and there are several scenes of near-violent confrontation.
This isn't a violent film. It isn't a sexy film. As a matter of fact, I don't think there is any sex or violence in it at all. A few cuts for language and the movie could be on network tv. This is not an edgy film, it's just a story about the events of a single night in eight people's lives.
While CLERKS glorified the slacker as a better-than-thou intellectual with some sort of secret insight on life, this movie admits quite freely that it has no answers. The movie isn't about answers. It isn't really about questions either. It's about futility, maybe. Or maybe it's about trust.
I saw this movie at a screening, and I don't have a press kit, so I don't know the names of the actors. The woman who plays Bebe, currently seen on the NBC show MEN BEHAVING BADLY, almost walks away with the film. She is a peripheral character, and yet, when all is said and done, the movie is more about her than about anyone else.
The catalyst to this night is a fledgling rock star, coming back to his home town to play "The Orpheum," a venue he last played for the Senior Prom. He shows up, in a nearly surreal way, in a stretch limo with his puplicist to "hang" at the Circle A with these people he knew in High School.
Yes, he pulls up on the side of the Circle A in a stretch limo. And no one else sees him there.
The movie does drag, though I'm at a loss to suggest what should have been cut. Still, perhaps a better editting job could have made the film not feel quite so lathargic. On the other hand, the movie's action occurs between about 11pm and dawn, so to a certain extenet, the pace was surely intentional.
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