SLC Punk! (1999)

SLC Punk starts out entertainingly enough as a sarcastic snapshot of the punk-rock scene in Salt Lake City in 1985--complete with mohawks, moshing, and vague avowals of anarchy. But gradually, the wanderings of Stevo (Matthew Lillard from Scream) and Heroin Bob (Michael Goorjian) turn into a multilayered exploration of character and culture shock. Though he spends his days drinking and mocking the values of his parents, Stevo turns just as critical an eye on his own rhetoric and lifestyle, and comes to find that aimless rebellion may be just as hollow as the mindless pursuit of money. No character has the right point of view; there are no easy solutions. Despite lacking anything in the way of a plot, SLC Punk sustains its energy through wit, realism, propulsive editing, and excellent performances from Lillard, Goorjian, and the rest of the cast. It's emblematic of the movie's sophistication that Stevo's lawyer father (Christopher McDonald, who played Geena Davis's husband in Thelma and Louise) is treated satirically without being dismissed; though baffled by his son's form of rebellion, he never loses hope that Stevo will go on to law school and continues to cajole Stevo and argue with him about how the world works. By its end, the constantly shifting perspective of SLC Punk achieves a surprising emotional depth. It's also given a lot of energy by a well-chosen soundtrack of energetic but not overly familiar music of the time, including selections from Fear, the Dead Kennedys, the Stooges, and even Roxy Music. --Bret Fetzer Amazon.com

slc ok

This movie had its funny parts it also had stupid parts. it had a good ending so stick with it. i know some of you will start it and say it dumb. but stick with it you'll laugh. November 18, 2008

Fun, but really conservative in punk drag...

"SLC Punk" is a shallow good time disguised as a sociological study. While seeming to laude the tenets of both anarchy and punk rock, the film is profoundly conservative and insulting once you dig a little deeper beneath the surface. Lillard is great, even during the obnoxious "speaking-directly-to-the-camera" portions, but what stands out is an underlying contempt for both punk specifically, and rebellion generally. "I didn't sell out, I bought in." That perhaps best sums up the sensibility behind "SLC Punk." Turn off your brain and it's all cool -- otherwise, you will want to hunt down and kill James Merendino. April 27, 2008

Poignant and Full of Contradictions

SLC Punk is about a couple of punk/anarchists stuck in the middle of conservative, Mormon-dominated Salt Lake City. This is a pretty good film, as long as one bears in mind that the kids in it represent more of a "lifestyle anarchism" than a political philosophy, and as Stevo (the main character and narrator) self-consciously admits at several points, their actions and attitudes often stand as a flagrant contradiction of the punk ethos they espouse. While the movie does not accurately portray the "authentic" punk or anarchist philosophy, it does accurately and poignantly portray a widespread, popular bastardization of it, so it still creates relevant social commentary. As a coming-of-age story, it is poignant and affecting, particularly as tragedy descends upon Heroin Bob, ironically named for his aversion to needles and drugs.

Throughout the movie is an undercurrent of dissonance between an anti-oppression philosophy and the characters' aimless,testosterone-fueled adventures. While Stevo and his friends rail against "fascism," they glorify violence and act in ways that perpetuate the "macho" dominant culture. Fights are a way of life, and in one scene, Stevo (who claims earlier that "nobody owns anybody") catches the woman he likes with someone else and proceeds to beat the daylights out of the rival, who he accuses of "invading his territory." A less obvious irony is Stevo's...well...patriotism! He goes to great lengths to extol the superiority of America's punk scene, in one instance harassing a singer from the UK who's been roughed up by Stevo and other patriotic punks.

An excellent soundtrack adds another layer to the realism of the film. October 22, 2007

descent movie

This movie is ok, not gonna win any awards. There is a lot of talk about punk posers in this movie. This is not about real punk rock. Which is fitting, because it's about posers. It's entertaining nonetheless. August 23, 2007

Much more than I expected.

This movie is proof that you should never judge an item by its appearance. When I first saw the cover of this DVD, I groaned, thinking it would be cliché, boring, and annoyingly stupid. But oh, how wrong I was. I started watching this movie not expecting anything appealing or intriguing, but I was instantly sucked in. It's so much more than a documentary/film of Salt Lake City "punks", it actually has a message, one that you will never forget.So I proudly purchased the film, and watched it over and over until it sank into me like a rock in a creek. Definitely recommend it to everyone, even if you aren't into punk music or the punk scene. August 2, 2007

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