Around the Fire

This movie is hard to find, I had to watch in low res on YouTube.

Devon Sawa really is a charismatic talented actor. I've seen him in some other things including The Boys Club, and surely his most notable movie Final Destination. Sure, Final Destination is a horror film, but like many horror franchises, the first entry is the best. Sawa gives a powerful and even touching effort there.

Whatever the faults of this movie, they don't lie with the young Sawa.

Ok, I'm not here to just harp on this actor when he was a kid, but I can't help but think he could have been Jesse Pinkman had Breaking Bad come out ten years earlier.

Sawa seems to be unheralded considering his talent, but at least he does seem to be still working a lot.

Probably the best thing about Around the Fire is Devon Sawa's performance. He plays a college bound teen who meets a group of new friends who quickly turn him on to drugs and a counter culture that is intriguing but ultimately leads to his downfall, as he uses it to escape the tragic loss of his mother and the family problems that surround it.

Although the story is heartfelt and unfolds well, it is also derivative and highly uneven. The director is careful not to use any real names of people or places in portraying the hippie/druggie sub-culture that the Sawa character falls prey to. This has a twin effect of leaving things a little vague, yet, bringing us into a real and hypnotically dazzling world.

However, the performances shine, elevating the film to a much more credible level. Sawa has grown into an actor of considerable depth and range and proves that he's at home as much here as he is in any number of his earlier, more emotionally shallow films.

Just because Tara Reid is in the movie,i was expecting it to be horrible and ultra trash.But it wasn't that bad after all.There are some really notable quotes about life and drugs and if you've had any kind of drug experience then you can really relate to what happens in the character of the movie.The plot isn't that original though and it is a little boring so that's why i rated it with 5 stars.Good movie to watch once but not another time.Oh and by the way,this is probably the only movie where Tara Reid's acting doesn't suck at all but isn't the best possible either.

This movie is disguised as some sort of hippie coming of age drama... but the sad truth is that this is just a thinly veiled bit of anti-drug propaganda. The soundtrack and watching Tara Reid be hot are about the only things going for this movie. Beyond that, the movie suffers from a predictable (and very bad) plot, stereotype characters, and cheezy dialog. It's like watching an After School Special that just drags on and on and on.

If you are considering watching this movie... put on a Grateful Dead CD and download pictures of Tara Reid from the internet. You'll get all the good points of the movie without having to endure the painful "Drugs are bad, mmkay?" plot. If you don't already use drugs, listening to the dialog in this movie will drive you to drugs in an effort to kill the pain.

First major effort of Co-Writers as stand-alone independent film. Extremely well produced, well written, well acted film. Storyline holds up throughout; interaction between characters is genuine. Would be received very well by younger viewers in late teens or early twenties. Very fulfilling story of a young man's struggle in coming to terms with his own past, present and future.