SubUrbia (1997)

Really Surprised!

Far from Perfect, Far from Terrible

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Richard Linklater's adaptation of Eric Bogosian's subUrbia is revelatory in the smaller sense because, like any good play, it follows the characters personalities by way of where they're at in the location(s), and their conflicts, even if things involving the characters are fairly simplistic. With these guys and girls in their early 20s, there's not much to do, and little to aspire to. Jeff (Ribisi) knows he doesn't know what he wants to do, and is almost perfectly comfortable with that, even if his frustration comes out all the time; Tim (Katt, maybe his best performance, if a little limited) is an ex-dish washer from the army who is about as aggravated as imaginable, but often with a seething angst under the surface as faux anarchist aspirations; Soozie (Carey) is the typical girl who wants to get out of town and do something and bring along a guy- in this case quasi-boyfriend Jeff- who isn't too interested in it for reasons of hesitation in the guise of pragmatism; Buff (a pure goof-ball Zahn) has had his brain melted by alcohol and marijuana, and yet is very sweet and like a kind of Harpo with a Beavis & Butthead complex; and Pony (Barok) is the nerdy goodie-too-shoes who got out of town and became a star, but plays insufferable music and is a Primadonna.Around these characters, plus a semi-rehabilitated alcoholic Spybey's Bee-Bee (who reveals this only later on in the film, maybe the most TV-movie but disquieting in suburban tragedy of the bunch), Linklater uses Bogosian's impressive dialog to make this occasionally very funny, mostly due to Zahn's random antics involving himself throwing around objects (including people sometimes), and with the zinger one-liners from sardonic Ribisi, but also more contemplative about the nature of the 90s youth slummers. It's appropriate that Ebert made comparisons to Waiting for Godot, as it has that quality of digging very harshly and in a half-satiric half-naturalistic manner. It may be a parody of pretension seeing Sooze do her interpretive dance, but maybe it isn't at the same time, which lends the humor of seeing her as a double-edged sword: if one's around this age, if not even from this generation, there's probably someone in a group like this who has misguided creativity. Or Katt's character, who is maybe the most stereotypical, particularly in the heated arguments with a convenience store owner (Naidu, far removed from his Office Space role if just as anxious), but has inklings of truth to him as a representation of the real losers among the slackers.And then Ribisi, the 'hero' of the story, is actually kind and 'true', as he tries to see it, but is there giving commentary on situations, like Pony doing an impromptu musical performance for his former high-school buddies in a laundromat parking lot, and is also only so much critical of himself. It's basically a small view into people who you probably might see sometime going to a 7-11 if you're in a suburban malaise kind of town where all the practical things- eating, finding maybe one girl or guy, getting laundry done, getting good and drunk, and education- can be done, but it's also a trap where the loop inspires feelings of change, minor fun, and indifference, as well as the usual disgust. Towards the end if does lean towards the preachy: the altercations between Katt and Nazeer are the least effective portions, and even the disturbing fate of Bee-Bee reeks of a contrivance that can only come from a play. But there's a lot of rich material here- if not as wholly successful as Linklater's most successful portrait in Dazed and Confused, or as ambitious as Slacker- and it merits a repeat viewing sometime, most likely without the aid of much alcohol, which the characters here take as a sort of assist in making things even more dull and, if you're Zahn, a lot more fun in a distanced way.

This is a great film to me, but it might not be so great to every kind of person. I'd say that it's good for people who have ever felt like no one understands them. If that's how you are, you'll find that some one does understand and that you aren't the only one who feels lost. Don't make the mistake of thinking this is some ultra-sappy drama/romance. It has it's share of dramatic and romantic themes, but the main theme is just different peoples' journeys into their own heart and mind. It's a movie that shows that the author is not afraid to bear his own feelings as if they are comlpetely normal, even thought it's hard to know if anyone else does in fact feel the way you do. For that, I salute the author. The directing was nothing special, but it does the job. The thing I love the most about this film would have to be that if you can really get into the movie, it will take you on an emotional journey because you feel what the characters are feeling. My only warning is that if your emotions are easily influenced by movies, then by the end of this movie, you might feel changed. It's the kind of movie that could make you look at life differently.

SPOILERS THROUGH:It's seldom that movies about teenagers have the depth that this one does. SubUrbia deserves to be up in the top of the heap in that respect as I can recall few other movies of this type that get the accuracy of youth in suburbia so absolutely RIGHT. The people, the dialog, the issues-it was all there. In addition the movie was actually interesting.As in movies like "Clerks" and "Breakfast Club" this film takes place in a short period of time, one night actually. I'm not going to get into reviewing the whole plot as that's not my thing but I will comment on the essence of the movie and on just how vividly the characters are brought to life on screen. This is a much darker movie then the above mentioned two and an unflinchingly honest Picture. Deserves not just good but excellent status.For anyone who has experienced their own days of hanging out in suburban parking lots there will be a lot to relate to. It's almost inevitable for anyone with a past to be able to find aspects of themselves or a fellow suburbanite or two, in many of the characters. Sometimes it's a little uncomfortable to watch as it may feel less like watching a movie and more like eavesdropping on yourself and your friends. This isn't a "fast times" type of picture, this reflects the darker aspects of youth.This movie really did remind me of "Clerks" a lot in that the whole film took place in a night and because of the "slice of life" aspect of the movie. Then again there's a tad bit of "River's Edge" in this as well(a must see if one hasn't seen it.) There have been few movies since "Rivers Edge" that have so effectively captured the inertia and Disconnect of growing up suburban and this one does. It's a fantastic picture.I don't necessarily see these characters as people who don't have dreams. Rather in some aspects they seem to dream far more then many. And when Pony, another suburbanite who had the same dreams which just happened to come true, returns to town, resentment is almost inevitable.I'd recommend the movie but maybe not when one is in a bad mood. It's one of the most reflective young adult films I've ever seen and is a must see for anyone who likes a dose of reality and poignant story to their films. This is a 9.5 out of 10.

I would be curious to compare this with the original play, which I've never seen. Bogosian is a great writer and Linklatter seems like an odd choice to match with a strong dialog writer, since he goes for this numbly, seemingly improvisational style. That style fits this subject matter perfectly well, and he does capture that bored, pointless bitterness, but I'm wondering if a different director with the same script might have managed to make something that felt a little more intense. This movie just sort of ambled along with interesting little bits of drama here and there. It's all sort of interesting, the performances seem pretty good, but I was never drawn into this and I never cared about the characters, although they were convincing.