S.F.W. - Filhos da Violência

S.F.W.

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Sound format: Dolby Stereo

A feckless young man (Stephen Dorff) becomes an unlikely celebrity after surviving a televised hostage ordeal in his local convenience store, but he's unable to reconcile the tragedy of the siege - in which his best friend (Jack Noseworthy) was killed - with the exaggerated version of events peddled by a ratings-hungry media.

Jefery Levy's cult-movie wannabe pairs Dorff alongside relative newcomer Reese Witherspoon in a vicious assault on the contemporary media, depicted here as a soulless entity concerned solely with ratings and money (yeah, so what else is new?). The message is obvious, but Levy and co-scriptwriter Danny Rubin (GROUNDHOG DAY) revel in their own daring: Dorff and Witherspoon play ordinary characters who emerge from an extraordinary situation and are forced to confront their unexpected (and unwanted) fame. However, Levy's unflattering view of modern journalism (symbolized by John Roarke as a variety of thinly-disguised real-life TV celebrities who feed off other people's misery, and Gary Coleman in a fleeting, self-deprecating cameo) seems a little distorted and misleading, though clearly filtered through the lead character's personal viewpoint. Dorff himself is terrific, as always, playing a charismatic and foul-mouthed Everyman, scornful of the manner in which his personal misfortune has been manipulated to feed the expectations of a mindless, sensation-hungry audience. But there are moments when the screeching soundtrack fades abruptly to silence and Levy concentrates on Dorff's haunted face as he recalls key events - good and bad - from the siege, and the friendships that were forged and destroyed under extreme duress. The movie doesn't say anything new, but the execution is invigorating.

Look out for an early appearance by Tobey Maguire as a young stoner who thinks he's died and gone to heaven when he and his buddy (Dana Allan Young) encounter their idol Dorff on an empty street (a truly hilarious sequence). Steve Antin cameos as a news reporter named after his character in the equally odd INSIDE MONKEY ZETTERLAND, helmed by Levy in 1992.

If not its certainly a contender. If anything you could look at the rest of his career and consider he has been searching for ways to recreate this character ever since.

Its a pretty cool movie that along with Natural Born Killers was a high profile examination of, at the time, media practices (NBK in a much more extreme way) and the creation of celebrity (regardless of talent or in spite of it).

Its sassy, funny and for sure entertaining :)

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.

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............

The plot is cliched. In fact I could have sworn I have seen it many many times before. It is almost "Mad City" except it is better. It is the story of a hostage who has been aired for 36 straight days and has become a celebrity. His most famous quote is S.F.W. or So F***ing What. The worst thing that I could see about the movie was its language, and if the bleeps were not there on the parts that were supposed to be on television, I would swear that this had the most F-words and any other swearing than even Goodfellas. But, it did not bother me.

This movie stresses me, and it should. It is about what the media was when the movie came out. Instead of the mind-controlling media that it is currently, see "Mad City," it used to be fickle, and still is a little, and change with the public. One day the media could hate the pres and the next it could love him for the same action. This is instead of trying to force everybody to hate the pres.

The movie is a little confusing because of the editing. It starts with day 36 of the crisis, and then moves forward. We only see the crisis in flashbacks. You never learn what the terrorists are about, and it does not really matter. What does matter is that they held Spab and Wendy hostage for 36 days and aired every minute on TV.

This is pure Gen-X stuff. But, it is good for everybody else if you can get past the language. It actually has something to say about society and how everybody is sheep. They all follow everybody else without knowing why. They change at the drop of a hat. And they all want a piece of the leader.

This is not really a comedy, and not really an action or drama. It is non-conformist which is good. Watch this movie, and you will automatically mull it over. Then, watch it again. You won't see everything the first time around. This is a high-rate film, but a it has low points. 8/10