The Anarchist Cookbook

This movie... I really don't have much to say about it. This movie was a waste of my time, and will surely be a waste of yours. The title is unbelievably misleading, and doesn't portray Anarchism in any way, shape or form. I nearly cried with frustration at how horribly wrong the entire concept was. I encourage you to throw this movie away if you own it, for it's nothing but a piece of right-wing propaganda that honestly portrays nothing other than the classic American troublemaker, which any true anarchist is far from. The only reason it really made it as far as it did- that is to say, the only reason people actually watched it- is because for once we anarchists thought that we would see a movie that showed Anarchy in all of it's potential glory. Boy, were we wrong.

Have you seen Fight Club and SLC Punk? Well if you have, you are qualified to write and direct movies. All in all it was not too bad. I give it like 3 stars or something. The main fascination of the film for me was the location. It is shot it Dallas TX and surrounding suburbs. I'm stuck in Dallas so it was cool to see others coping with this same problem as well. The story seemed to change directions more times than a hobo in a dance hall. It looked like it was trying to be revolutionary or something of the sorts. It was definately not as good as SLC Punk but hey... few movies are. I recommend it to people who have to watch everything that comes out.

Anarchist's Cookbook is better categorized as a coming of age teen movie then drama or comedy. In fact, this movie is exactly like "SLC Punk" mixed with "Porn and Chicken". In the end, as with the other movies, I felt like the story was force fed and the ending was classic Hollywood ride off into the sunset finish with all lose ends tied up nicely. It's watch able, maybe once... but easily forgettable.

Most of my problems with the plot of the movie revolve around the "bad guy" Johnny Black character. He is presented as a nihilist who is on a mission to save the environment with guerilla activism. So really Johnny is not a nihilist, but a radical. This point alone makes most of the philosophical discussions that take place in the movie insulting to anyone who has bothered to look up the words nihilism and anarchy in the dictionary (they even do it for you). Another thing that bothered me about the movie is the typical good guy hero Puck. This is the same guy from every teen movie ever made; you can interchange them and not notice a difference. The narration throughout the movie was another bad point, I felt like I was watching growing pains. And I love how they stole the only emotionally meaningful moment in the film from SLC Punk. I could bitch for hours, but the bottom line is that this is an average teen movie. Not as original as SLC Punk and about as provocative as moldy meat. But if you have nothing else to do, it can't hurt to rent it once as long as you know what you're getting upfront: a s****y way to kill two hours.

I had my doubts upon first renting 'Anarchist Cookbook'. The first review I had read was on this IMDB page and it was not complimentary. I agree that this movie is part 'Fight Club' part 'SLC Punk', but it has to be viewed as its own entity. If you care to listen to the commentary on the DVD, then you will realize a lot of time and cunning was used to make each scene and each shot that you have to watch it a second time to really appreciate it. This is captivating cinema done with a very slim budget. Once the "indieness" is established, we have a worth while film.

For IMDB standards, I would give it a 7/9.

~Nioze

I agree, this was a deeper film than, say, Fight Club, but not as "fun". It also was not particularly favorable to anarchists or nihilists or hippies or leftites or dropouts or republicans or leather/sadists.... I don't really agree with the characters self-assessments as anarchists and nihilists, but i guess they can call themselves what they want to. It does display the primary problem facing anybody wanting to change the world today; how do you change it without becoming part of it? How do you fight violence without becoming violent? Can you change the system from within? If you do change it, will you then be the system?