Dave Harlequin (NerdNationMagazine) Without a doubt, this is one of (if not the) best films to never see a DVD release. It's honestly nothing short of a travesty that, even in 2011, one cannot even purchase this excellent work on any modern format. Mind you, thanks to streaming sites like Netflix, one can still get their hands on this one, even if they've long since put-away their old VHS player, but that doesn't do much for those of us who pride ourselves on our film collections.Overall, this is a truly exceptional film with a fantastic cast, great soundtrack, and plenty of the amazing dialogue that Linklater's films are known for. If you haven't seen it- please do yourself a favor and give it a look... if you're anything like me, you won't be disappointed!

skacorerobdog Richard Linklater definitely has an eye for America's mundane middle class, his films Slacker (1991) and Dazed and Confused (1993) brought an artistic perspective to the experience of the suburban miscreant that in many ways becoming the defining discourse on youth in the 1990s. Highlighting the ritualistic 'Friday night' and purposeless afternoons, Linklater uncovered the hidden cultural vibrancy within a section of the population who are so often maligned as 'cultureless'. In a particular montage from Dazed and Confused, images of young people cruising the main drag are flashed within a backdrop of the neon twilight typical of America's commercialized sprawl. From the eye of the uninspired, the environment seems completely homogeneous, yet Linklater's intrinsic sensibility of the suburban aesthetic succeeds in portraying this as a scene of excitement and all out possibility where the characters look alive and enthusiastic amidst such an artificial and wearisome environment—it is a defining moment in Linklater's uniquely modern depiction of the sublime, his triumph to find beauty in monotonous. Linklater's adaptation of Erica Bogosian's play subUrbia (1996) follows the same current as the scene in Dazed, yet sans the youthful idealism and expanding upon the central theme of Bogosian's work: suburban decay.SubUrbia is stock full of familiar images of the suburban aesthetic 20 years down the road from Dazed (Both filmed in suburban Texas) and backed with a soundtrack courtesy of Sonic Youth (a band whose sound I would argue replicates the feeling of 1990's America.) In a consistently sedated tone, the film follows a group of substance abusing 20-something nobodies in their stagnant town of Burnfield. Terrified to actually confront any progress or purpose, these pseudo-adults stand around in a convenience store parking lot talking about themselves in self-congratulatory manner (the film's particular capitalization of the second 'U' in the title speaks to this theme of self-absorption.) The story's protagonist Jeff (played very convincingly by Giovanni Ribisi) is a jaded, unmotivated anti-hero with seemingly good intentions, but never the follow through to back them up. Consequently, he lives out of a pup-tent in his parents' garage, barely holding a part time and satisfying his latent intellectual streak with a night class at the local community college. Jeff's girlfriend Sooze (Amie Carey) is a sort of caricature of the suburban bred artist set on 'escaping' to New York, while Sooze's character hints at aspects of the genuine, she is ultimately malleable to outside forces such as the romanticized escape dream and the reemergence of a former fellow burnout turned rock star 'Pony'(Jayce Bartok.) The others group in the group of misfit are decidedly more volatile, killing time with a self-destructive consumption of booze and harassing a Pakistani convenience store owner Nazeer (Ajay Naidu) who they xenophobically refer to as 'Mohammed' even though his real name is not revealed until the film's closing climax. Jeff's best friend Tim (Nicky Katt) is the prime perpetrator of the racism towards Nazeer, referring to him as a 'brown bastard' and yelling sexual and racial epithets at the store owner's wife after she pulls a gun on him during one confrontation. Tim is far and away the least likable character of the film, and it would be easy to write him off as a cut-out racial bully, yet he is also the films most powerful representation. Tim alludes on several occasions to his service in the air force and success as a high school football star, but never does he portray his experience as being in any way glorious or important, nor does he speak of anything in such a manner, he seems numbed by his blasé surroundings and only displays emotion in the context of anger or violence toward outside forces. He is the archetype of what a harsh suburban environment creates: an angry, ignorant addict trapped in his own misdoings. Interestingly, Tim is the only one of the characters who does not in at least some way attest to being an 'artist'. Jeff justifies his laziness with a hobby of creative writing, Pony has found success with his songs (a success that Jess and Tim highly resent) and even goof-ball druggie Buff (played with the now familiar zaniness of Steve Zahn) claims to make videos. The motif is very ironic for the filmmakers Linklater and Bogosian, as it seems to critique the salience of white, suburban-raised voices in the artistic world. The group of friends exists in opposition to the film's only pragmatic character, Nazeer, who takes pride in being a business owner and on his way to a computer science degree, while the likes of Tim and Buff drift through life with their only goal being to wake up the next more and start the cycle of decay over again. Jeff sits on the fringe of these two worlds as evidenced by his civil interactions with Nazeer and being the only one to actually ask for his real name. There is a sparkle of enlightenment in Jeff, and he even reaches his own cathartic epiphany, screaming passionately about the privilege of being able to be alive, yet the motivation draining presence of his friends and environment ultimately appear to have him cornered. In the films closing scene, a lesser mentioned friend of the group Bee Bee is found on the convenience store's roof having suffered an overdose. Nazeer looks directly at Jeff in disbelief and sadness, saying "You have everything and you throw it all away!" Jeff says nothing in response, just staring back at Nazeer blankly, his face distraught but blank in the same moment—he recognizes the plague of his situation, yet remains incapable of action. ********

The_Void I'm a big fan of Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, as well as the excellent, yet little known 'Tape' - but this film, SubUrbia (silly 'U' in the title), doesn't live up to the high standard of the latter mentioned films. Linklater obviously has respect for drama and dialogue, but he's let himself down here because a lot of the action and words in the film are silly, and delivered by a bunch of caricatures. We've got the irritating feminist, the famous guy trying to hang out with his old friends, a rich bitch with a heart of gold, a drunk who cant take his beer, a drunk who can, a girl out of rehab and a guy who holds everything together, simply by being more drab than the rest of them. The cast try their best with their characters, and the film isn't 'boring' - but it stinks of a decent film striving for greatness, and it never even nearly achieves it. The plot is basically about a bunch of Americans 'kids' that hang around parking lots, as they have nothing else to do. The film takes place around the same time that some guy they used to know, now a big rock star, is coming home to 'hang out' with them.Not much of this film is really believable. I don't think that Giovanni Ribisi's character would ever go out with the irritating feminist, for example, and a series of things like this make the film really difficult to get along with. The film is based on a play by Eric Bogosian, so it's unfair to blame Linklater (who I actually like) for the film's shortcomings with the characters; but to be fair, his direction is lethargic and doesn't really get along with the hip style that the film feels like it should have. Most of the characters are annoying rather than likable, and this means that by the time of the ending; you really don't care what happens. This is made worse by the fact that this is one of those 'ambiguous' films that leaves itself wide open at the end. Writers really need to learn when to, and when not to, use an ending like this. Ambiguous endings simply don't work when it doesn't matter what happens, and rather than making you think as the writer intended; it just turns you off. I appreciate this film a little because I like dialogue; but to be honest, there isn't a lot I can recommend it for. I do like the song, "A Town Without Pity", used in the opening credits though.

mmorse-2 No one else seemed to mention it, so here goes:"SubUrbia" is "The Wizard of Oz" for slackers (underemployed post-high school young Americans)Buff is the Scarecrow (he lacks a brain)Tim is the Lion (he lacks courage)Jeff? is the Tin Man (he lacks a heart)Sooze is Dorothy and Bee-Bee is TotoThe Wizard of Oz is Pony and his publicist, Erica, is a bit of a witch.Obviously, "SubUrbia" is a comic-tragedy (black comedy), but the question is: do the main characters gain the brain, courage and heart that they lack at the beginning of the film? I think so:Tim and Sooze will move to New York (she's seen through Pony's smoke and mirrors). Brainless Buff seems smarter and clearer at the very end of the film. Tim's heart is awakened when he picks up dead Bee-Bee on the roof of the convenience store.mmorse-2