S.F.W.

I just watched S.F.W. and was amazed at how, at least five years before the major trend of 'reality TV' became the in-thing, this movie satirized it, and showed it for how wrong and un-real it is. This movie scathingly commentates on the media's ability to warp and distort truth, and to give the mundane deep meaning. Cliff Spab is a meaningless person trapped in a meaningless society that does not appreciate the horror of his ordeal and ruthlessly tries to cash in on his pain. This film is chock-full of meaning and irony, and it is simply brilliant.

5 people are taken hostage in a convenience store for 36 days until a fight allows them to escape. During these 36 days the terrorists' only demand is that their video feed from inside the store is broadcast live on the networks. Spab and Wendy emerge as the only survivors to find themselves heroes of the media generation.

Don't let the plot summary fool you into thinking this is some type of thriller with a media slant. The hostage thing is over in the first 3 minutes and any flashbacks are dull and meaningless (except one powerful one). Instead we have a mixed up satire on media and the fade of fame. The plot never makes sense and really loses the point after only a few minutes. The fact that the whole hostage thing is never explained and barely touched on just shows it is nothing but a poor plot device to get to where the makers wanted to be to make their point.

It manages to come across as just an angry youth movie – with it's anger not directed anywhere in particular. This causes it to be very loud and with far too much swearing, causing you to start to switch off. The only point that the film manages to make clearly is that no matter who is the 15 minute celeb or news story that night, TV is all the same. Wow! What cutting edge comment!

Dorff is OK but just plain annoying in his videos (that apparently the world love). Witherspoon is vapid, Busey is just loud and annoying and Adams is totally misused. The cast put more effort into saying the F word than anything else. It is very off putting because it is unnecessary – I guess they thought the `kids' would dig it.

Overall this is just like the media that it tries to criticise. It is loud, meaningless, lacking substance and totally forgettable – physician heal thyself............

I'm not trying to say that this movie is the greatest movie ever made, but I feel that it is too bad that more people do not know about S.F.W. It's a bit hard to believe the plot, but since when have movie plots played within the guidelines of normal society. Stephen Dorff gives an amazing performance as Cliff Spab. This was the first movie I ever saw him in, and seeing S.F.W. really made me think he is destined for big things. I liked how the story shifted from past to present constantly. This way, you had to wait until the end of the movie to find out what happened at the beginning. Makes it all the more intriguing. I love this movie, and most people would too if they gave it half a chance.

Way, way ahead of it's time (similarly themed films made years after were Natural Born Killers, Mad City, Truman Show), this is, quite simply, a life-altering, mind-altering film which zeroes in on and then embodies the zeitgeist of the nineties. See this film, take a look at the world surround you (especially western popular culture), and think about it. It's also pretty f***in' funny.

A young man becomes famous due to a horrific situation. Now he has to live with the fame and the memories that it brings. There seem to be too many characters, that are developed only to be left with without discussion after their scene. Stephen Dorff does a great job, which is important, since the movie is mostly watching him walk around and deal with the stresses of his fame. The flashbacks seem to do a good job of show his traumatic stress disorder.

The sound track is great, with a special appearance by GWAR.

See it or not. As the main character says "So F**king What?"