The Punk

I had been trying to see this rare later movie the director of "Myra Breckinridge" and "Joanna" for decades, with no luck, then as these things happen it suddenly turned up in an obscure corner of the internet.

My amazement and gratitude ultimately outweigh the fact that, well, it's not that good--but hey, it's off the bucket list at last. You can tell the film is trying hard to be something along the lines of "My Beautiful Laundrette," with a similar flippant mix of culture-clash seriocomedy amongst various stratas of London. But particularly compared to that breakout, which deservedly got wide theatrical release (after premiering on TV), this is clearly a TV project that is not particularly well-written, unevenly cast, and rather sloppily directed, though it has its moments.

The leads are appealing enough, but the very loose "updating" of "Romeo & Juliet" is never anything more than a gimmick; the material never seriously addresses that source, it just occasionally remembers to riff off it a bit. As for the "punk" milieu, well, by 1993 that wasn't exactly breaking news, and the best you can say about the treatment here is that it provides some snapshot of a scene at a point when nobody much was paying attention anymore. (Not that the music on tap is particularly "punk," anyhow.) Anyway, this is more in the realm of an amiable goof with a few charming moments than anything of substance or even much style.

I wish Sarne had had more directorial opportunities, but he only partially manages to transcend the budgetary and conceptual limitations here. It's a mildly cute, contrived movie--sorta like a cheaper, pseudo-punkier version of a John Hughes joint like "Pretty in Pink," another quasi-edgy teen romcom--that does not leave much lasting impression.

Charlie-Creed Miles, (the fifth element) gives a heart warming emotional performance as David, the son of a 'copper'. He rebels and becomes an archetypal Punk, moves out of home and finds a squat, whee we see he is a cultured person reading Rimbaud and an incredible musician writing his own music. Vanessa Hadaway stars as Rachel a spoilt Jewish American princess studying acting in London. She dates a psycho biker boyfriend, Ned, to annoy her father. David bumps into Rachel in a theatre where she is playing the starring role in Romeo and Juliet. He is fleeing Rachel's boyfriend, who he has just taken money off playing pool. David's best friend overdoses on drugs making for an emotional reflection on modern day London. Eventually he manages to date Rachel and when saying good bye is confronted by Ned. They fight and he ends up killing Ned with his own knife. Hurt and destitute the dealer that sold drugs to his best friend finds him and gives him a safe house and drugs. David takes them and is slowly falling into oblivion and perhaps death when Rachel escapes her families country retreat to find and eventually resuscitate him, with the help of his father. Absolutely terrific. Heart-warming, dramatic, tear jerker. Wonderful.

You gotta love Charlie Creed Miles. He's one of my favorite, Londoner actors, and highly underrated too. He headlines this film, in the title role, and does it wonderfully, as a lone rebel, like you've seen in a few Phil Daniel roles, who falls for a beautiful American chick, Rachel. We have a sort of Romeo and Juliet story going here again. Rachel's from affluent digs, while CCM's family is weird to say the least. His father is a cop, who works nights, while his mother of different race, Indian, whatever, is slowly going around the bed, and ends up a psyche ward. I really like the rebelliousness of Mile's character, and the setting of the Rachel character, is an interesting angle, a not too good Shakespearean actress and we spend a bit of time around her cast mates, where the old director/actor was fun too. Being an actor, I totally related with his character, and his lying to her fellow actress, as well as not confronting his own failing realization of stardom. Rachel's long haired boyfriend, (Oh, he's not really her boyfriend) just so happens to be after Miles, after so called being cheated by him in a pool game. And in these Romeo And Juliet scenarios, blood does flow, but not excessively, among some spurting and fountaining of the stuff. The Punk is just so darn fresh and original, another R film, like Sugar Hill, and Menace To Society, that missed an Adelaide cinema release. A true stand alone pic, each and every scene. Highly recommended. Amazingly written by someone, our two leads, junior.

Well, I think this movie was pretty good! Some bits were...okay, but most were good. It was an interesting story, and everyone has to watch the funny dance scene! It's sooo great! I am really amazed that it was written by a 13 year old. Wow. Gotta love everyone's clothing too. Hehe.