Smithereens (1982)

Things to be aware of: This movie is a downer.This movie is interminably slow at times. Feel free to skip forward with the remote. There is not a lot of plot to miss.Having offered those two disclaimers, this movie is definitely worth watching if you are inclined towards depressing tales of urban outcasts. Like most, this one centers around a subculture, but is really about the kind of tragic dreamers that seem drawn to failure like moths to a porch light.What makes this story so compelling in spite of the rather amateurish acting and film-making is the gradual, offhand, and absolutely realistic ways in which the different characters casually dig themselves into ever more inescapable holes.This is a story not about the 80s or punk rock, it's a story about young people with unfocused ambition who are sucked in by the glamor of the scene, whatever it may be. These are the fashion victims we've all known: people who have a new best friend every week, with whom are going to write a screenplay, go on a road trip, start a band, whatever. The people who are too busy and too cool to be cared about unless you're going to make them famous, people who do not realize that the glittering lights of the city at night are just stores and bars, who keep thinking that one of them is going to turn out to be magic, who see everyday life as some kind of hoax that they won't be conned into falling for.What is beautiful about "Smithereens" is the perfect depiction of the blind, frantic pursuit of a better, purer, more exciting life that leads to the opposite. The sad, romantic naiveté that looks for rescue in a bar at 2am is a target for every kind of leech whose belief in magic has burned out and turned to cynical opportunism. The neophyte victims gradually and seamlessly become predators themselves, preying on others who are looking for late-night magic. Dreams of romance, fame, and adventure become grubbing squabbles over sex and money and these dreamers don't even see it happening until, disdainful of everything, they end up with nothing.

(SPOILERS, kind of)I love this movie. Susan Berman plays Wren, a trash queen who finds herself homeless and living in a van with her new admirer, Paul, as she attempts to shove her way into punk rock with Eric (Richard Hell), who isn't exactly a great guy to trust.This is a great movie if you're just tired of nice settings, peppy protagonists, and happy endings, or if you're a lover of punk and all its forms. For those in the first group, the film is full of humor but at the expense of the sympathetic but questionable characters. It makes you feel for even those who most would classify as not deserving sympathy, like the hooker who offers Paul a blow job and a tuna sandwich in return for being allowed to sit in his van and keep warm. It ends on such a down note, too. If you're a huge fan of punk rock, this kind of movie really shows the commercialization of it at the end of the 70s and the early 80s and the fact that it was all just a big messed up corporation by 1985. Wren sees it as her big break and a way to make loads of money and be famous, and that really misses the point of punk.Of course, I doubt thats how the film was intended, but who cares, everybody loves self-interpretation. I'd recommend this movie to anyone with about an hour and a half of free time. or something.

I don't care what the naysayers below think. I like this little film. And I think the soundtrack blows the pants off of Penelope Spheeris' "Decline of Western Civilization" that was released not too long before this one. I'd love to find the "Smithereens" soundtrack on CD! Both this and "...Civilization" deal with the U.S. punk culture of the early 80s with this film clearly being the better of the two, imo. Saw 'em both at the same time.Great little story with a good feel for New York of the early 1980s, and the shallowness of the scene during that time. It really depicted what a loserville the place really was. I really felt for the Wren character and the rejection she continually faced, much of which was her own doing. She should have went back to New Jersey and made something of herself.Btw, whatever happened to Susan Berman, anyway? Why hasn't she done more films? my imbd rating: 7 out of 10

Considering the extremely low budget, this film is pretty impressive. It starts out entertaining and absorbing as we get to know the main character and all the travels and travails she encounters on her quest for fame. However, the story doesn't develop much after that and pretty much goes nowhere, leaving the view bored and waiting for something to materialize.