SubUrbia

Eric Bogosian has written and performed extensively for the theater. I have seen him as a solo performer, as well as his plays "Talk Radio" and "SubUrbia". Having admired his work on the stage, one wondered what kind of treatment those plays would get. Luckily, he was able to adapt them to the screen, himself. I had seen this movie when it came out, so when it showed on cable recently, I decided to take another look. While it's a work that perhaps was marketed as a comedy, this work is much more than that. This film dares to take a look at one of the most prevalent problems in the American society.

Richard Linkletter was perhaps the right choice for directing "SubUrbia" since he has a keen eye for the "slackers" in our society. These individuals are perhaps puzzling to a lot of other cultures, but it appears there's a trend among young people all over that come from homes where parents and children inhabit different worlds.

The phenomenon of the American suburban youth is well presented in this movie where there is no parent authority around to supervise what these kids are doing. The culture of hanging out without any purpose, or meaning, is a problem in that in most cases, leads into drugs, sex, and alienation from what is known as normal society, thus creating people like the ones this movie is portraying.

In a way, Hollywood films have added to this anti hero sub culture, so prevalent in the country. When there are no strong figures either at home, school, or government, young people tend to gravitate toward friends who they feel comfortable with, shying away from reality and responsibility.

It is the convenience store owner, a Pakistani, who puts things in perspective. While these kids are wasting their time, he is working on his degree and will make something out of himself, which is a theme that has been explored by other great American writers, like Arthur Miller, in "A Death of a Salesman". The same American dream, where everything is possible, is wasted in these young people. At the same time, it's the immigrant who wants to make that dream a reality in his life because he has experienced hard times in his own country.

Mr. Linkletter's choice of a cast is brilliant. He gathered the talents of Giovanni Ribisi, Parker Posey, Amie Carey, Nicky Katt, Steve Zahn, Jayce Bartok, Dina Spybey to give life to these lost souls in search of identity in the heart of the American counter culture that is generated by the boredom of the suburbs and the erosion of the family in this country.

I consider this one of Giovanni Ribisi's greatest acting roles... because it is so real. The entire cast portrays this in the way that I think many 20-something-year-olds can relate. I know that when I had all of my friends watch it, they could see themselves in many of the characters. It showed us that we are not the only young adults, living in suburbia and our mother's houses... thinking about the things that we'll never do with our lives. Steve Zahn gave his usual comedic act, without taking away from the seriousness of the film. I believe that this is much easier to relate to than the earlier Dazed and Confused, because it shows the American Dream in action... that series of hopes that are easier said than done. What is wrong with us?

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.

If you like 90 minute movies (over the course which each character becomes a better person), characters with whom you can deeply sympathize, complete resolution of all conflicts, and happy endings, don't rent this. subUrbia is too harsh, too honest, and too painful.

Ribisi and Katt are amazing. Katt was great as the wisecracking "Stacy" in the movie The Limey, a role similar to his in subUrbia (Tim). Overall, the characters are too angry, poisonous, and disillusioned to be likeable. I didn't find this to be a bad thing, however.

Adding to the numbing ache of the movie is the fantastic score- Sonic Youth's droning guitars and a nihilistic soundtrack all add to the depression in Linklater/Begosian's Burnfield. Enjoy. Or not.

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