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SLC PUNK review
SLC PUNK
Alrighty folks, Harry here with my review of SLC
PUNK. Which had the rather unfortunate fate to be
screened immediately after ELECTION, a fantastic
film that you would all do good to go out and see.
When doing SISKEL AND EBERT there was an
unexpected problem that I faced. I really wanted to
write the main reviews for this movie and PUSHING
TIN, as I feel badly about giving bad reviews to
movies without an extensive amount of space to
discuss that in a straight forward manner.
For me, soundbyting a negative review is far harder to
do effectively than for a positive. (Unless the film is
just awful in everyway.)
So, being faced with having roughly around a max of
45 seconds to discuss my problems with SLC PUNK,
I was forced to sum up my number one problem.
Matt Lillard.
I don’t HATE Matt Lillard, but I haven’t been a big
fan either. His name does not motivate one of those...
“Oooooh Coooooool, Matt Lillard’s in it!”
statements. I enjoyed him quite a bit in DEAD
MAN’S CURVE and the first time I saw SCREAM I
enjoyed him quite a bit. However, I quickly found
that he just wasn’t performing characters that I
enjoyed on screen.
I began to form the opinion that Matt Lillard is best
served as a small side order or a garnish for a better
movie. This does not mean that one day I won’t see
him in a movie and say, “Lillard was born to play.....”
whoever it may be.
Matt Lillard IS this movie. Point Blank. His
character is in nearly every frame of the film. He
narrates the entire film, sometimes directly into
camera. Having just seen ELECTION, which made
perfect use of the same narrative devices, here... with
Lillard’s annoying character raps.... It was like a drill
being inserted in an ear and going all the way through
Fulci style after a stunning symphony (aka Election).
Now don’t get me wrong, I LOVED the music in the
film. I’m a RAMONES fan since way the hell back at
ROCK N ROLL HIGH SCHOOL. They used to play
Austin ALL THE TIME when I was a kid, and my
Dad took me to many of their concerts at a cool club,
which I believe was called RAULS. The BIG BOYS
kicked major ass, and one of their poster artists
Maxwell Malice was a friend of mine... Even did one
poster with me in a Big Boy outfit being encased in
glass by a giant Big Boy. In Austin, the Punk scene
was huge and still exists. I’ve been to concerts and
parties... but you know what?
Punk, is not the reason I hated this film. Ya know...
Lillard went a very long hard way towards droning
into my skull that thought... But the main reasons
were that... for me.... it didn’t have a very fresh look
at Punk culture.
To look at the Salt Lake City version of the Punk
underground was significantly less exciting than the
Punk underground that existed in Austin at that time.
My experiences here in Austin with that time period
colored my opinion of the rather lackluster SLC
scene.
And the film was scoring a mediocre negative review
with me till they did the unforgivable (in my mind)
and that was when the movie gave me a glimpse at
the film it could have been.
After all that happens in SLC PUNK, they have a
quick flashback to the ‘pivotal’ moment in these
Punks’ lives when... they changed. You see, they go
back to when they were only... Say... 12 or so years
old. One friend comes in, bemoans their lot in life,
their social standing (having their asses kicked
constantly, never going to parties, etc), then
attempting to change the music in this basement.
The other friend (a younger version of the Lillard
character) is setting up a game of DUNGEONS AND
DRAGONS, a hallmark game of my generation.
Something that struck an instant harmonious chord
within me. There was a brief year of my life where
all my friends played it, till we became addicted to
ATARI, the VCR and something called MTV.
Anyways, when RUSH is removed from the stereo,
and a different... strange tape is inserted, the young
version of Lillard asks what this is.... And the other
kid says.... “Something New”
Brilliant scene. Instantly I was pissed. I felt cheated.
I mean here... right here was the basis, the starting
line for a FANTASTIC FILM, at the tail end of a
boring one!
If that scene started the film. If we watched the
progression of how that one tape changed them from
D&D dweebs to the world of PUNKS. How their
parents reacted along the way. How their High
School fellow students would react at those years,
then worked our way up to the time period of the
story we got.
I wanted the full arc. I wanted the epic PUNK story.
I wanted a film that slammed me as hard as you got
slammed in the pit during a Wendy O’Williams
concert. And instead, the film felt TRENDY. It was
like... Someone telling a story I knew, but without the
coolest of details. Without the punch. They created a
film that strived to make these punks look and feel
REGULAR. It made their lives routine ala punk.
How dare they!
They took all the violence and drugs, but really kinda
left out any of the other hallmarks of the scene. This
film reminded me of one of those “could’ve been
flicks”. You know. A film that just felt less than it
could have been, and as a result of getting it wrong,
you just go fucking apeshit and you hate the thing?
You STARSHIP TROOPERS haters know what I
mean. I liked that film, but to you.... You wanted the
book, you couldn’t get past the bullshit excuses for
not having the Power Suits, and making the giant
story comprimises that the film made. And you hated
Casper Van Diem.
Well, after everything, it all came back to sit upon the
shoulders of Matt Lillard. This is a film based on a
character’s personality, and I didn’t shine to Lillard’s.
If you like him... you’ll like the movie... If you don’t,
well... at the least, it didn’t motivate me to be kind
towards him.
When all is said and done, I would rather recommend
to each and everybody that wants to see a really great
PUNK film... Go get SID & NANCY! Go watch the
last 20 minutes of AMERICAN POP! And beg and
find your way into a copy of TRUE STORIES OF
THE DOUGHNUT MEN!
TRUE STORIES OF THE DOUGHNUT MEN?
Yeah.... It’s a film that’s never been distributed. It
was produced by Rana Joy Glickman and is a
fantastic look at the sort of Anarchy advocated by the
punk scene. It’s a work of punk art. And is a
fantasticly visceral film... Ideal for campus theaters.
But ya know.... You’ll probably never ever get a
chance to see it.
Why?
Cause life sucks in that way.
Because nobody saw it. Because they didn’t
understand the fundemental beauty inherant to the
statements of ANARCHY. The philosophy of mob
rule. The crashing of glass, the lampooning of the
establishment, and the depravity of man. There is a
beauty to it. It’s about shedding the bonds of society
and listening to a music that ‘they’ don’t understand,
but is poetry to you.
The use of the music in SLC PUNK just didn’t thrill
me. The performances had a few spots here and
there, but mainly... I just didn’t care for the characters
which seemed to just be playing to stereotypes.
It’s a film with a pretty damn strong ending.... but the
wait... for me is excruciating.
These punks are in college, they’re going to classes...
allegedly, but I never got a feel for what prejudices
they had there. Did they exist? Sigh.... Alas this
isn’t the TRAINSPOTTING for Punks.
I didn’t disappear into the culture. I wasn’t
transported to the scene. AND I wanted to be.
Now saying all of this, if you decide to go see this
movie, go and see it late at night when the most punks
will possibly be in the theater with you. And you
might come away loving it for the experience. But
for being alone in an empty theater after
ELECTION... it was tedium.
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Matthew Lillard is the ONLY reason to see Slc Punk, which is an amusing film that never manages to rise above mediocrisy. Devon Sawa was cool in a cast against type role, the dude who played Bob kicked ass, and the punk soundtrack was cool as hell (I'm a big Dead Kennedys fan). The film could've been so much more, but cliches and a disjointed storyline ultimately botch its chances of achieving true indie notoriety. Overall, I'd give it a positive review based solely on Lillards screen charisma and energy. Come on Harry, he's not THAT bad.
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You were right about one thing Harry... if you don't like Lillard you aren't going to like the movie. Since you obviously don't like him, then I don't think you gave this movie much of a chance. I didn't think the movie wasn't explicitly about documenting the punk scene of SLC in 1985, but rather the movie seemed to be about a kid who is trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life, resisting the path which has already been laid out for him in the futile gesture of trying to be a punk in Salt Lake City, of all places. The punk goings-on just served as a setting, not the subject. The subject was Stevo's metamorphisis from child to adult, so to speak. It just happened to be set in the punk scene. In many ways, the story in the movie was identical to American History X, in that there was a central confused character who was trying to figure out where his life were going. I liked it a lot, I'm sorry you didn't. I thought the scene at the end was interesting too, but it didn't ruin the movie for me like it seemed to do for you.
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...well, Harry, you gave a very interesting review. I, like others, do not particularly enjoy Matt Lillard (the only flick I have enjoyed his performance in being Serial Mom).
Though I have not seen the film, I'm going to give it a chance but it sounds like I'm not going to enjoy it very much. Ah well. In any case, I guess it will be up to me to make a punk movie that won't be trendy...
I also suggest people rent Sid & Nancy, and also a little-seen documentary called D.O.A. that is rather hard to come by, but essential viewing to anyone who loves the Sex Pistols... the interview with Sid & Nancy is CLASSIC!
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I dunno, maybe it's just me, but is simply not liking matthew lillard reason enough to say this is a bad movie? If anything, this was your weakest review on S&E because it won't convince anyone not to see the movie just because you didn't care for the lead actor. The review would have had more value if you backed up why you didn't care for Lillard.
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Gee, I guess I'm late reading this.
Hey Harry! I must see "True Stories of the Doughnut Boys", tell me how. I am reletivly local, can I borrow yours? -
I thought it was a great movie, but I have to admit I'm biased because the movie really slammed Salt Lake City and I hate Utah and all that is associated with it. Yes, compared to other cities, SLC punkers are tamer, but what type of town do you think SLC is, a hip cutting edge type of city, or a boring ass ultraconservative cowtown? My girlfriend, who was an LA punker back in the days of X, the avengers, misfits, etc. really like the movie too, and she was no poseur punk wannabe. She did the mosh pits, had a mohawk, lived that punk lifestyle.
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okay i like this movie, me andmy friends watch it soo much.. cause the movie makes a good point about anarchy and everything else.. makes u actually think.. whcih movies today dont do anymore.. all about the fake love scence and other sillie things.. where slc punk shows it how it is.. like how things at that age or near that age truely are..and no iam not a pnk or an anarchist if you read this and think iam.. just this movie makes sense even if some scences are lame maybe.. but the plot good!
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...stink like my bathroom after I decreased the chili cheese burrtio population.
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