jrsjr57 Greg Harrison apparently thought he was making a pseudo-documentary of the San Francisco rave scene. According to all the dismissive reviews from die-hard ravers, Harrison has failed in this aspiration. In failing though, Harrison has succeeded in creating a small movie which works on many levels. Groove has humor. It has moments of dramatic tension. It shows drug abuse for what it is without being preachy or judgmental. The music is awesome. The cinematography alone is worth your time. And then, just when you have enough elements to make up an okay niche movie about the rave scene, Groove adds "The Nod," a mini concept piece which transcends the genre and adds a second climax, an intellectual one, after the first musical/spiritual/dramatic climax. Groove is filled with the kind of self-revelatory scenes which give the viewer a sense of truth and the truth always hurts.

Nick Dets After an impressive opening shot, Greg Harrison's "Groove" uses quick cuts and blaring music to introduce most of its characters. This is a section of the film that is wasted in a typical case of style over substance. This film mostly takes place at a rave party, but instead of trying to grab the audience's attention at the beginning, writer/director Harrison should have been more concerned with elaborating the people attending the rave. When the party finally happens, not only is it hard to care about the outcomes of the characters but more importantly there is no emotional anchor to keep enough attention to them. The thin story "Groove" has is about a post-school limbo of uncertainty. It is about a struggling author being pulled to his first rave by his free-spirited, party-loving brother and sweet girlfriend. All of them are drifting in life without really realizing it. The mix of drugs and pulsing dance music helps to take them out of their misery for one long night. The ending is a high point in the film, but when the movie ends it is hard not to get a feeling of nothingness about the movie. Like the life its characters lead, "Groove" is aimless, occasionally fun, but ultimately empty.

Andrew I used to be into the rave scene myself, so i'm pretty familiar with the subject, and i thought the movie was pretty entertainiing. If you're a trance addict, or used to be, this'll give you a little flashback to the times you experienced in the club, those moments when the DJ puts on a track that just gets the place jumping and blows your mind. The dancefloor shots were done pretty well(although i could've done without the little slo-mo during Digweed's set), and the soundtrack is great, very well selected. If you dont know much about the trance scene, this is a nice intro to what being at a rave is like, but dont take it as a guide, because the actual rave/candykid/PLUR scene is dying out and shifting to the more commercial setting. The music is still around, and still great, but it is no longer as underground as it used to be even 4-5 years ago. Anyway, nice little movie,despite some plotholes and some little things that could have been done a bit better, it keeps your attention, and not a waste of time. Digweed just rocks the house during his set, especially with Heaven Scent.

JZvezda Like "Rave" the hairspray, "Groove" is cheap and tacky --but it works.Premise: A night in the life of not-so-creepy club crawlers.Plot-points: --Boy meets girl-- An unrealistic, unbelievable story of the veteran raver "Leyla" teaching the ropes to the novice/party nerd "David" (Hamish Linklater). In reality, it would probably take someone higher up the genetics food chain, to get a babe like Lola Glaudini to spend her nite nursing an ecstasy-stupored dork back to coherency. Especially considering the fact that Leyla is sober during the event, and I can't think of too many sober club-goers willing to sit and listen to a drug-addled mess of a stranger spout jibberish. But whatever.--Boy proposes to girl, then meets boy-- Colin & Harmony, the quintessential club kid couple. He helps her dye her hair purple and she paints his fingernails black. Ahhh, to be in love. Enter creepy massage guy. I'm sure that a great number of straight female ravers can relate to this storyline.--Boy desperately seeking "the nod"-- The perils of party throwing 101:* How to decorate an abandoned warehouse* What to do when one of your DJ's is M.I.A. (too whacked out to spin)* The boys in blue are here, now what?That's basically it in a neon nutshell. First-time director Greg Harrison's ode to party people, a film that probably should have skipped the soapy storylines and reinvented itself as a documentary.There are some cute in-jokes though: A raveboy becomes ill after over-dosing on the drug GHB, his friend nurses him and after concluding that he'll be okay, she says: "What are you, *new*? EAT before you do drugs." Cute."Groove" is that party that isn't really all that happening, but not buzz-kill bad either. Once you make it past the lumberyard acting and surrender to the idea that music and dancing are some people's idea of doubles tennis or a night at the opera... you may see this movie for what it is: A simple, colorful, shout-out to club kids everywhere."Groove" Not a party for the ages but well worth the cover charge