S.F.W.

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.

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.

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?"

One of those uber nineties movies that critiqued the media and tried to be edgy. These movies look somewhat ridiculous today. (Though the Chase with Charlie Sheen at least managed to be funny). Part of the problem is that the underlying philosophy is a value free world weariness which when put on film comes across as spoiled, stupid, and self indulgent laziness. And since movies are essentially THEE dominant form of media, criticizing media's omnipresence or vanity comes across as blithely self deluded. That said the cast does the best with what they have.... which generally rounds out to putting as much emphasis on their turn to curse as possible. The plot..... if it can be called that makes very very little sense if you stop to think about for more than half a second. The central event of movie is never so much explained as much as it brought back in choppy flashbacks in order to remind the audience about why were following these characters. Better time could be spent watching a smarter film on the topic. I suggest Network.

All that being said, I can't completely hate a movie with this great of a soundtrack. The fact that almost a minute of screen time is given over to the band Gwar makes it at least retain some value. I've also noticed that music from the 50's - 70's is thrown into movies at all different times. But the only time you hear 90s music is in 90's era movies. It's almost as though Gen X in their nihilism forgot to leave any lasting mark on culture.

It's another movie about an Everyman who is thrust into the eye of instant pop fame by being a hostage in a nationally televised incident. First he enjoys the superficiality of the fame, then.....

In other words, it's mostly like a dozen other films that address this theme, just a little differently. This one's a little more deft at dishing out the satire and irony, despite rocking hard those product placements that films relied on in the 90s, in this case, heineken, which we see too many times to count. Since it was an new emerging director at the time, there's a lot of emphasis on attempts to produce fresh, thoughtful imagery. It's a commentary on the meaninglessness of popular reality tv, which was new then, albeit in the mid-1990s. It's hard to remember in 2021 how new we were to instant-reality-tv fame, and when, despite our addiction to it, we also still seemed to know how tasteless it was, before it became part of our ever-present background via social media. A little of EdTV meets Natural Born Killers, with a pretty and then-promising young Stephen Dorff, and a pretty and cute-as-a-button young Reese Witherspoon.

Kudos for not being afraid to show lower middle-class white Southern California the way it really was and is, without all the California/Los Angeles/Beach cliches that audiences lazily expect. Also kudos for showing the character of Spab as a real life character that he probably should be -- aimless, ambitionless, talentless, but redeemed by innate charisma, gift for gab, and good looks.

This is one of Dorff's better dramatic roles. Witherspoon, on the other hand, was not given much to work with, beyond being the "co-star." Busey, as usual for both he and his father, stole every scene he was in, which wasn't many.