The Anarchist Cookbook (2002)

Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

good back-story, and good acting

An action-packed slog

How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

I brought this movie over to my friends, thinking that we would both enjoy it, seeing as SLC Punk wasn't that bad. Ha, this was nothing MORE than a rip off of SLC Punk, and to my knowledge, portrays anarchism in a very...fantastic way, if not childish way. If this movie were the real world, I'd have swung myself in the very OPPOSITE political direction from these...anarchists. Not much to it, seriously, and I would not recommend this to anyone who wants an inside to the anarchist lifestyle. SLC Punk at least made the lifestyle look a little real, whereas this movie makes it look a little ridiculous. I think the only good part of the movie was the hippie camp; Double D (I think that's his name) was pretty much the shallowest portion of the movie. I don't believe I've ever seen ANYONE fail to act like an idiot. And whoever he was...he accomplished just that. I usually don't crack down on movies like this, but this one had it coming. Please, even the first house party scene was a complete remake of SLC. This movie was bad; sorry to all those who are dearly in love with it, but my taste buds have been burnt.

not bad. entertaining but utterly useless in the means of converting anyone to any political view. kinda like the feeling of watching a scary movie, when a stranger is knocking on your door, don't let him in. it also tells a unlikely story of how a peaceful group turned rouge. things like that mostly starts from people inside getting desperate, not from a stranger. still it is quite entertaining. i am the sort of person who try to watch a movie and see what information is right and which is fictional, which is wrong by error and which is wrong by purpose and this movie is great in that matter. I've enjoyed it but it wont satisfy if you want to learn something. in that sense its rubbish.

The Anarchist Cookbook is about the a college dropout who joins some sort of naturalist cult like team who join together thinking they are at war with society and the government. Though they are rebellious in nature they do not go over the boundaries of stepping out of line especially when it comes to the law. Everything seems to be well and doubt. A group of friends,living together in harmony discussing peaceful tactics against a government they disagree with entirely. Thats until a strange rebellion named Johnny Black enters into their lives and then their peaceful revolt and their world spirals out of control. It was a pretty OK movie. A bunch of 2000 hippie peacemakers who believe they can change the world for the better. But it wasn't anything big. I give a D+.

This film represents what excellent movie-making is all about: the journey of a character to self-discovery. I can think of few films with so extreme of journey.In the beginning there is Puck. He is a self-proclaimed anarchist who thinks he knows it all. And the film wittily begins as an anarchist romp. The scenes have a disjointed feel to them, as it ping-pongs around from a satire of the Freddie Prinz Jr. oevre, to examinations of characters and their ideas of freedom.This wolrd is shaken up by the arrival of Johnny Black, the first person to arrive on the screen who actually knows what he wants. While the others talk, J Black does. And in the process, he earns the respect (no matter how begrudging) of the rest.And Puck is caught in between. The kid who acted like he knew everything, must now confront his complete lack of knowledge: about the world, about his friends, and about himself.Without revealing the brilliant twists at the end, allow me to say that this film explores trust, ideology, and friendship in a way that is funny and poignant. It's a shame more people did not see this minor masterpiece.