Suburbia

A bunch of GenX kids hang around a convenience shop for the night, while they await the return of their friend from the past, who is now a big-time drummer for a popular band on MTV. They talk, talk some more, and then talk some more.

Originally a play by Eric Bogosian, I could see how this idea might’ve worked in the theatre, but on the big screen, it does little more than perpetuate the ill-founded theory that most kids of our generation are without direction, plagued with problems, and most importantly, boring and self-important. The dialogue in this movie was pretty good and believable, and Giovanni Ribisi sure comes out of it smelling like a solid acting rose, but the rest of the cast was so-so and unsympathetic, the set seemed too clean and contrived for the circumstances, and the plot, far from compelling. I also hate films that don’t “close themselves up” real well, and this one decided to take that ol’ “you figure out what might’ve happened to these characters” approach. Listen pal, I just invested two hours of my time into these cheesy characters, so the least that you could do it give me a decent payoff! Didn’t happen. Anyway, I hope to God people don’t see this movie and imagine our generation to be this lame and annoying (Could the “fly-girl” Sooze with the earrings all over herself have been any more irritating?!!?). All in all, a generic dialogue-intensive film with no plot, uninteresting characters (save for Ribisi) and an open ending.

One saving grace: Giovanni Ribisi shows the whole world what his ding-dong looks like. Congratulations Giova, you’ve officially been knighted Keitel-Jr. 🙂

(c) 2021 Berge Garabedian