SLC Punk (1999)

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

Well, first I have to say that I feel I'm not qualified to rate this movie. From what I've heard about punks, "SLC Punk" portrayed their lifestyle faithfully, but something about it didn't entertain me. I mean, if you aren't able to watch an English language movie without subtitles, this movie won't work. The film worked kind of a documentary, and the storyteller talked too much and too fast, so you didn't have time to understand what he says, read the subtitles and analyze the scenes. And although I don't wanna live like a punk group does, I admire them for their authenticity and respect them as I would respect any other group of people. A must see for punk lovers, either to like it or not.

On initially watching this movie I wanted to give it a higher rating, because all in all it was fast-paced and entertaining. The dialog was good enough and there was plenty of humor and action. One stylistic criticism is that Stevo's voice-over was poorly utilized. In movies where the method works, such as Fight Club and A Clockwork Orange, the voice-over was used moderately so as to represent the narrator's perspective through comments where it would otherwise be unclear rather than summarize things that could have been shown instead of told or were already happening on screen. Overall, it seemed to be a low-budget attempt to emulate Trainspotting's style.On further reflection, however, it's clear that this movie is geared towards 90's hipsters who don't know anything about punk rock and only recognize it for its fashionistas and punk bands that were slow and poppy enough to make it to the mainstream. Disappointingly, there seemed to be more classical music in its soundtrack than genuine 80's hardcore songs. Despite Stevo's railings against 'posers,' he and his friends seemed to be trying too hard with their image to take any of his 'anarchist' rhetoric seriously. Nor is anarchism even close to being the only ideology which identifies with punk. Contrary to this movie's attempt to portray punks as being to the 80's what hippies were to the 60's, the genre is far too diverse and divergent to make the point stick. Along with druggies there were straight edgers, along with anarchists there were fascists, and along with all of them there were people who just didn't care one way or the other. SLC Punk attempted to use broad generalizations to display a small subsection within punk rock as being wholly representative for its target audience of outsiders. Within 80's hardcore, a shaved head, plain tee, and boots were far more common than a blue mohawk with tight leather pants. SLC Punk never truly felt as though it was about the music or even the broader social scene so much as it was about a specific character, his specific problems, and his specific viewpoint. The amorphous plot had been satisfactory until its ending, which had conclusions which were too black-and-white and didn't translate smoothly enough from the protagonist to his broader social situation. This could have been forgiven however, if not for the display of some of the most horrible and clichéd acting I've seen within memory from the two kids playing the flashback versions of Stevo and Bob. The amateurishness and total lack of quality in this scene speaks for itself. I would only recommend this movie to someone with nothing else to do and who can take its portrayal of punk with more than a grain of salt.

As one of those SLC Punks I want to say that I liked the film and Stevo even gave approval. Though the accuracy is not there and there is no mention of the SLC music which included 'The Massacre Guys' which was one of the bands Stevo was in, The film is of interest. I didn't know Bob well so I wont speak of him or how he obtained that moniker though the movie does tell of the myth. Stevo (Now known as Stephan Egerton) did not become a lawyer. In fact, after his good friend and Massacre Guy Karl Alverez. he joined the band 'All' and later they reverted back to the original 'Decedents' after Milo returned. Sean (Fightmaster)(You can find him on line) Did not become a bum as I knew him since he was 14. The acid in the sprinklers portion is up for debate though Sean at times of lucidity claimed that it never happened. Sean died of a heroin overdose two years ago and is greatly missed. Just a note from someone that was there...Though it's fuzzy now!