Sunset Strip

Well its like this, all I needed to read on the back of the box was "if you like Boogie Nights, you will love this"...NOT. What an excellent idea for a movie, 70's Hollywood club scene and the people trying to break into the biz....to bad it never delivered. Oh and by the way...it says it has a great 70's sound track playing through out? I think I recognized one song.

What do you want in a movie? If it's verisimilitude, you must have subjective overview for the context, or else it's just another period piece as distant and impersonal as The Napoleonic Wars. If it's a character study, you must accept this as the basis of the filmed entertainment.

"Sunset Strip" should be viewed as a character study companion piece to "Almost Famous" with far more accurate verisimilitude. "Famous" is a wondrous pastiche, lotsa entertaining bang for your buck. But "Sunset Strip" represents the real s**t. I know. I was there. And here's why you should take my anonymous word for it.

When I first saw this movie I was astonished that I didn't recognize the name of its writer, for I recognized every one of his characters, literally as well as figuratively. The writer obviously was exactly the same age I was, worked in the exact aspects of the entertainment industry that I did, at the exact same time in the early 70's at the exact same spots in Hollywood and knew the exact same people I did (or knew of.) Anna Friel was Genie the Tailor, who did in fact die in an auto accident with several members of British band Fairport Convention. The geeky manager was seemingly an early Geffen clone. The disolute songwriter was a Warren Zevon-alike, while Jared Leto was, dare I say, a completely interchangeable popstar type of the era. My own future husband, popstar of that era, lived in the exact same Laurel Canyon mountain aerie depicted in the film (replete with benevolent landlord), while I worked as a music photographer amongst the main protagonist's doppelganger. And I did know who he was. He was one of the names you'll recognize on photo credits of the era, who owns a major restaurant here. But he didn't want his name on the writing credits, so I'll respect that.

"Sunset Strip" is a highly entertaining character study that is unbelievably accurate in its depiction of an assortment of characters on the perimeter, or the earliest stages of ascent, of the music scene in Los Angeles in the early 1970's. It's all true. And we did go out there every night. . .

Well last night I watched Sunset Strip on Canal +, the movie channel, pretty much just to see Tommy Flanagan (Duncan Reed in this movie, Cicero in Gladiator, and Morrison in Braveheart...very different roles). Before that, though, I read some reviews about the movie, and none were very flattering. After seeing it, though, I can't really understand why, for I quite liked it. I mean it certainly wasn't as bad as the critics were making it out to be. There are several different plot lines going on at once, all during a single day on Sunset Strip, and they're all connected to each other by at least one person. It would be too confusing to explain it all, but I recommend it.

...Pardon my bad Cameron Crowe paraphrasing.

You know that feeling you get when you're sauntering past video boxes and you come across something that looks good...with some acting credit names you recognize, but somehow you've still never heard of the movie! It's a feeling of "This is probably going to suck, but I feel like takin' a chance anyway". Well, I did and it did.

I made it all the way through, although I was reading IMDb reviews of the thing while I was watching, and it sure helped not having to focus 100% of my attention on SUNSET STRIP. Kudos to the guy with the review linking Adam Goldberg's character to "Disco Stu", as I at least laughed at that while the tape was running.

Other than the alluring Anna Friel, there is absolutely no reason to watch this ALMOST FAMOUS ripoff (which actually was dumped in a couple of theaters a month before AF). But other than both films having a shot of the LA Continental Hyatt House, these movies are on opposite ends of the quality scale.

The movie starts off with this prologue:

"In Hollywood in 1972 upon Sunset, man The Strip was packed every night. Not with tourists, but Us, the people in the backrooms trying to make it. We were all out there looking for something because we knew that LA was a goldmine and that your life could change in 24hrs and thats why we came here."

The movie takes place within a 24hr period, giving insight into the lives of those trying to "make it". For such a short period, the viewer gets an awful lot of character development. One of the many things that makes this movie good is how one can relate to the characters, the realism. The soundtrack is also really well done, it totally sets the mood for each moment and has a tendancy to carry the viewer to where they are supposed to be.

I found the acting to be believable, and was glad to see some faces I recognized for other movies. I would suggest anyone who is looking for a good movie check this out.