SLC Punk! (1998)

• Year: 1998
• Released: 16 Apr 1999
• Country: United States
• Adwords: 2 wins & 6 nominations
• IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133189/
• Rotten Tomatoes: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/slc_punk
• Available in: 720p, 1080p,
• Language: English
• MPA Rating: R
• Genre: Comedy, Drama, Music
• Runtime: 97 min
• Writer: James Merendino
• Director: James Merendino
• Cast: Matthew Lillard, Michael A. Goorjian, Annabeth Gish
• Keywords: hospital, male friendship, punk rock, breaking the fourth wall, redneck,

	7.4/10
	50/100
	63% – Critics
	89% – Audience

SLC Punk! Storyline

Steve-O and Heroin Bob are 2 average, typical anarchist punks you would see all over NYC or the UK in the early/mid 80’s. The only problem is they live in the most religiously oppressive place in America, Salt Lake City, Utah, so they are looked at and treated like aliens or devil worshippers by all the local “rednecks”. In the fall of 85′, after graduating college, they’ve decided the only way to rebel against the system is to do nothing, to waste their educated minds and keep the party going. But with his dad hounding him to go to Harvard Law, Heroin Bob getting a girlfriend, and a growing doubt in his belief system, Steve-O can’t help but feel that the good times may be over and it’s time to move on. But moving on may be proving the one thing he’s not ready to know, he might just be a poser after all.

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SLC Punk! Movie Reviews

Outstanding fictional take on punk rock

Anyone who has spent time in the American punk underground will find many points of reference in SLC Punk. The film is an amazingly realistic portrayal of the suburban punk subculture. All the issues are here: poseurs, sell outs, authenticity, straight edge, rebellion, boredom…and of course the perennial problem of whether mods and punks can get along! I can’t recommend this gem strongly enough.

Anarchy in Salt Lake City.

Two punks in the eighties, decide they want to change things in their life and along the way cause a little anarchy in some places, and good Karma in others.

Forget the fact that the cover says Sid and Nancy meets John Hughes, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

If you mix a little Boogie Nights, with Prick up your Ears, you get what in turn is this, a mildly diverting drama with excellent characters and Lillard breaking the fourth wall in what is arguably his greatest performance.

They are basically slackers, who argue with peers and superiors and cause a little bit of trouble. Some of the characters are interesting, Schweiger and Segel are standouts, others, random people doing random acts are not, become a little boring and a little too ironic, because after all, the late nineties was a time for ironic movies and left-field characters.

The ending is mighty predictable too, one dying, and then the other pursuing his Fathers dreams for him.

Watchable, but you’ll get a screaming sense of Deja Vu

Get Punked!

My supervisor all-but forced me to watch this “punked” out movie. He even gave me a lesson in “Punk Groups” in which I asked him to name some, well, more main stream punk bands to get a feel for his type of music. Well, it turns out, not only his taste in music (or the groups he mentioned,) such as Green Day and The Offspring, happen to be in my top bands of all time, so does his taste in movies.

I wouldn’t go as far as I would say I loved SLC Punk…but damn, it was really, really good.

The movie was a complete surprise to me, refreshing, original and a great kick-start (that unfortunately, never happened) to Matthew Lillard being a front-runner/lead star. The movie had humor, heart, tension (man, you never know when one of the punks/posers were going to burst out into insane violence) and awesome dialogue, including some wonderful talk-to-the-screen dialogue.

It’s self-described punk and obvious rebel, Stevo (Lillard) and best mate “heroin” Bob (Goorjian) against the world and their dysfunctional families during the last summer of their so-called “freedom.” What makes this movie rise above a typical comedy about out-of-control teens, is Stevo’s consistent need for answers to his “why, why, why” questions on where he fits in the universe, or the dump SLC (or Salt Lake City) he lives in, and if anarchy is the key. He mixes true rebellion, comedy, deep thoughts and actual maturity through his antics. That, my peers, is really hard for any written character or live actor to do. Lillard did it brilliantly. He made us root for him, despite his flaws, insecurities, revolts and violence.

I remember being almost (I said ALMOST) the same age as these kids during the time this was set. This took place in 1985, while I didn’t start high school until 1988, and that’s where the majority of his “groups” emerged, such as nerds, punks, Goths, posers, etc. They were all present in my school. True, I did try to “fit in” to one of the many groups, obviously doing my own self-discovery and probably coming out more of a poser than any particular group. Let me clarify: that was my Freshman year in high school.

Something changed when I returned for my Sophomore year. And I have remained the same since: I simply did NOT care anymore. I saw too many people attempting to join this group, hang out with those punks, dress in all black, etc, etc. Something clicked in me that this was all a waste of time, and I needed to be me and to hell with the rest. Needless to say, I was very unpopular with a great majority of my stuck up fellow students. I did NOT care. So be it, as Hard Harry would say.

This led me to appreciate a film like this. Like them, I saw people come/go, try to fit in, move on. This was all real life, even though I wasn’t one of the punks. (Honestly, I resembled Mike (the enormously hilarious Segel) the most, without the violence, that is.) Sure, the movie can be depressing (and enormously violent) at times, but at very least the writer/director Merendino apparently never asked you to look too deep. As soon as it went that direction, he would pull the rug with either humor or the growth of Stevo.

So thanks to my supervisor for the recommendation – despite you being part of “THE MAN” or “system,” you can come up with my highly recommended movies.

Side Note: No spoiler – but someone dies in the movie. It’s meant as a heart-breaking scene, and it is, somewhat. But…damn, her/his throat pulses up and down (despite the white/powered face, indicating overdose) and faster than someone on coke, the caffeine kind, that is. (Although…) They did add some special effects to this movie, such as to the Donner Family scenes, so why not do something with that incredibly obvious flaw. Try and get past that, and I see very, if at all, few flaws with the rest of the brilliant movie.