VakiPitsi
When I saw "SLC punk!" for the first time I was surprised, a lot... I saw the trailer and I thought "oh cool another movie about punk, drugs and subculture" but boy was I wrong. Instead of the shallow movie for just entertainment purposes that I expected I got a true masterpiece that would haunt my thoughts for weeks. The intense scenes, the whole irony behind the characters, the realism of the script together with amazing acting (another surprise, Lillards acting) made this movie for me seriously life changing! After finishing the film tons of question are born inside your head about, you, the world, society. In conclusion a very straight forward film with deep meaning!
thesar-2
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.
