SLC Punk!

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SLC Punk!
Directed by James Merendino
Produced by Sam Maydew
Peter Ward
Written by James Merendino
Starring Matthew Lillard
Michael A. Goorjian
Annabeth Gish
Jennifer Lien
Music by James Merendino
David Lee Roth
Bruce Slesinger
Elmo Weber
Elizabeth Westwood
Cinematography Greg Littlewood
Editing by Esther P. Russell
Distributed by Sony Pictures Classics
Release date(s) September 24, 1998
Running time 97 min.
Language English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

SLC Punk! (1998) is a film directed by James Merendino; SLC is an acronym for Salt Lake City. The movie is about a young punk, called Stevo, who is an "anarchist" (in the sense of advocating chaos, with no relation to actual anarcho-punk culture) in the mid 1980s.

The story is based on real characters; many events in the movie, including party scenes, drug-crazed characters, and others are allegedly based on real events, although these may have been exaggerated.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The film outlines the daily lives of the seemingly only two punks in Salt Lake City, Stevo, who narrates the film, and Heroin Bob, his best friend. The nickname is ironic since Bob is scared of needles and actually believes that any scheduled drug is inherently dangerous. The film is shot in documentary style with frequent soliloquies by Stevo. The day after a wild party, Stevo's life changes when he discovers that Bob has died from an accidental drug overdose on alcohol and percodan that he took the night before for a head ache. Eventually, Stevo decides to take his father's persistent advice to attend law school.

The film is interesting in that no distinguishable timeline is given for the events leading up to the climax. The key events could have taken place over a matter of days, months, or even a few years. Flashback scenes are plentiful, and the only references to the time are the date given at the beginning (1985) and Stevo's reference to Bob's release from the hospital as the start of the "Fall of Hate." The movie is driven by characters and not plot developments.

The character of Stevo is based on the life of writer/director James Merendino, so the movie is semi-autobiographical, although he is named after Stephen Egerton, originally known as Stephen O'Rielly, or Steve-o who played for the Salt Lake punk band Massacre Guys and eventually joined the L.A. bands Descendents and ALL.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Salt Lake City

The entire film was shot on location in Salt Lake City, Utah, because the directors wanted the title to coincide with the location. Numerous scenes took place in locally well-known areas:

  • Stevo's high school, which he calls "North High", is actually West High School and is near downtown Salt Lake City.
  • The scene wherein Heroin Bob chastises Stevo for being wasted takes place atop "Presidents Circle" at the University of Utah.
  • Stevo introduces the "poseurs" and gives his "Who Started Punk Rock?" speech at the Cottonwood mall.
  • Stevo and his girlfriend drop acid at Memory Grove Park, a World War I memorial park.
  • Many exterior street scenes occur just north of the Frank E. Moss Federal Courthouse in the downtown area.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Ratings

  • Germany: 16
  • Norway: 15
  • UK: 15
  • USA: R

[edit] External links

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