Warner Archive goes awesomely Hollywood-friendly edgy regarding the January 23, 2018 DVD release of the 1996 disaffected youth dramedy "SubUrbia." This tale of a night in the life of a group of post-adolescent losers in a (mostly likely Texas) bedroom community is the product of the dark social commentary dream team of director Richard Linklater and writer Eric Bogosian based on the Bogosian play of the same name.
Both men have strong track records for revealing the plight of the every post-adolescent male in an increasingly solitary society; Linklater is particularly skilled at showing how our friends become our family, including regular swift shifts between love and intense hate.
The following YouTube clip of the "SubUrbia" trailer highlights the strengths of the aforementioned collaborators and provides a good sense of the themes of the film.
"SubUrbia" makes excellent use of the quirky (largely indie) young actors of the day. We see Giovanni's Ribisi in his role as apparently unemployed guy Jeff living in a pup tent in the garage of his mother; Steve Zahn plays stoner pizza guy Buff, who will make you think several times about ever ordering that delicacy again. We also get Parker Posey doing her thing as hip record company producer Erica.
The rest of the ensemble includes Nicky Katt as psychotically angry young man Tim and vaguely Tom Petty looking Jayce Bartok as local boy made good as indie rock singer Pony.
The evening commences with the locals following their habit of congregating in the parking lot of a local convenience store that a Pakistani couple owns. The tension between hard-working engineering student Nazeer and Tim is particularly strong regarding this chronic trespassing. In typical Bogosian style, this conflict escalates to a threat of serious violence on a couple of occasions.
Pony pulling up post-concert in his limousine is another catalyst for trauma and drama. Although he is surprisingly chill for an early 20-something guy with fame and fortune, this arrival triggers intense feelings among his former classmates. His horribly trite lyrics, such as a song about a mini-van crash, contribute good humor.
The angst of Jeff relates both to having a disputed level of involvement in the early music career of Pony and anger regarding Pony asserting that his songs explain hidden truths. Tim mainly sees Pony as another rich guy flaunting his wealth.
For their part, Buff and group mascot Suze are excited to have a friend who has made good in their presence. Older and wiser viewers will feel sympathy for this pair regarding sincere (but almost certainly unfulfilled) promises of employment as a video producer and album cover artist.
The complete lack of any parental involvement or other guidance in the lives of these slackers is an obvious theme No one seems to care that their lives are going nowhere or even that they literally spend the entire night either driving around or hanging out in a parking lot. Nazeer provides commentary on this aspect of American culture in specifically noting how he will be leaving the group behind and in responding to Buff stating that that fast-food worker is going to Los Angeles that that city has plenty of convenience store parking lots where he can hang out.
The bigger picture in the 20 years since the theatrical release of "SubUrbia" is that a complex factors have made a significant percentage of the "have nots" resent the "haves" merely for "having." No reasonable person believes that building a good career is easy, but it is equally fair to say that achieving success (or simply being born into wealth) is an invalid basis for scorn.
Anyone with questions or comments regarding "SubUrbia" is encouraged either to email me or to connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.
No comments:
Post a Comment