SubUrbia

Linklater is treading in some of his familiar water ... one night in the night of a group of adolescents dealing with that difficult period at the end of high school, when one stops being what one must be and starts being what one chooses to be.

This film is not "Dazed and Confused", however, except that the two films share a spot-on accurate portrayal of familiar American characters. This movie is darker, preachier, deeper.

This time, instead of the rituals of the last night of high school, the film centers around the return of a former crony who has made it really big as a rock star. He's their friend, and the nicest guy in the world - just a former geek who struck it big and realizes how lucky he is - nobody could hate him.

And yet some do. Some hate him because he is a winner in the roll of the dice, and several of the gang are on their way toward becoming losers, and they know it. Their life consists of hanging around outside a convenience store.

For all its concern with the accuracy of its portrayals, the film has a curiously innocent denouement. The most simple and naive members of the group end up heading off to look for their dreams, and the cynical and jaded can see that their lives will repeat infinitely in their home town. In a sense, the succcess of the gentle stoned guy injects an almost impossible hopefulness in an otherwise despairing ending. As Graham Greene once wrote, baseless optimism is so much more appalling than despair.

Still, that was the choice of the filmmaker, and it wasn't an unfair one. Sometimes things do work out like that in real life, and this movie is all too close to real life. So close it can make you feel uncomfortable when you see yourself reflected in one character or another.

This and "Dazed" establish Linklater as an outstanding filmmaker with an uncanny eye for real situations and characters. One hopes he will soon realize his great potential with something better than The Newton Boys

First of all, this is NOT a comedy. Not in the least sense of the word. I heard that people say that it's black humour. Personally, I've seen alot of black comedies in my days, and Suburbia is definitely not black humour. This is tragic, and it is tragedy at it's best.

The plotline is really about nothing at all, which is exactly what the characters lives are about as well. The "big rockstar" Pony comes to meet with the good ol' guys (our supposed protagonists), but he isn't exactly met with open arms. Both Nicky Katt (Tim) and Giovanni Ribisi (Jeff) deliver great acting. Although their roles may seem simple and plain, but I doubt greater actors could have gotten more out of their roles. I just finished watching Suburbia for the fourth time, and it still manages to bring me down. If you're looking for a movie to lift your spirit, this is not it. I talked to a friend of mine earlier and since he's feeling a bit down all in all, he was really, really, reluctant to watch Suburbia.

"Suburbia" went straight to video in Sweden, and I can easily say it's the best straight-to-video flick I have ever seen. If you want to see a movie whose hopelessness stays with with until you got to sleep, and maybe the next day as well, Suburbia's the one to get. A depression wetdream.

I first saw subUrbia in probably 1997, and since then I have shared it with countless people and watched it plenty myself. Its not the sort of movie that you can put in, and then not really watch, to me it requires a bit more concentration. At th same time, the events that unfold for the characters in this movie always strike me. Another major bonus with this film is the issues it takes the time and consideration to cover, sexism, racism, classism, urban sprawl, the third world, and more... Its not a movie for people that don't want to see that ugly side of humans, but then all too often in day to day life the suburbs serve to show the ugly side of humans. Not a movie for children, and I wouldn't watch it with my grandma! Its a powerful and real story of life past high school, but not dealing with college. Of life feeling stuck, trapped, sometimes defeated in your current place, here suburbia. Its not a movie that offers a ton of hope, but its a powerful movie nonetheless!

If "Dazed and Confused" was the 'high' then "SubUrbia" if most definitely the 'down'. It's basically the flipside of "Dazed and Confused", where youthful hedonism has been replaced by 20-something boredom. It's a post-college movie where characters have found themselves unfulfilled in every capacity. It's a pack mentality, where you hang-out with the same gang from high school only to find you've out grown each other and resent one another's ambitions because you know you yourself lack the impetus to do anything constructive with your life. These characters are losers in every respect, clinging on to their high school way of life, reluctant to take initiative and move on. They constantly put each other down, bicker and make efforts to humiliate, yet the depressing thing is they have no one but each other. This is a quality film that remains one of Linklater's most under appreciated efforts. No one has the ability to present young characters with the insight, skill and craft Lanklater possesses. He is truly one of America's finest filmmakers working today and "SubUrbia" is a great film that still holds up.

This is a great story with a great cast of indie icons. Giovanni Ribisi does a convincing and sensitive portrayal of his troubling character and Steve Zahn continues to satisfy with his venue of off-the-wall characters. Indie queen Parker Posey pops up halfway through the movie, and even though, she's not in it that much, she still maintains her magnetic screen presence. Eric Bogosian's dialogue is a key element to making this film fantastic.