Review of SubUrbia

SubUrbia (1996)
6/10
interesting indie loses tension after Pony
17 May 2015
It's the suburban neighborhood of Burnfield in Austin, Texas. Slackers hang out behind the convenience store that is operated by the Choudhurys. Jeff (Giovanni Ribisi) is dating Sooze (Amie Carey). She wants to go to NYC to do alternative art but he refuses to do anything. Jokester Buff (Steve Zahn) works at the pizza joint. Tim (Nicky Katt) is ex-military with anger issues. Bee-Bee (Dina Spybey-Waters) is Sooze's friend. They come looking for Pony who was Jeff's friend and is now famous. A confrontation with the Choudhurys scatters the group. Pony (Jayce Bartok) shows up with publicist Erica (Parker Posey) and find the group. Jeff holds some resentment as he has a different memory of the start of Pony's band.

It's one rambling night in the burbs written by Eric Bogosian and directed by Richard Linklater. It has some good actors. For some reason, I keep thinking of 'Waiting for Guffman'. In that movie, Guffman is a red herring and it works better. This movie turns aimless after Pony arrives. He's the goal and the movie loses its emphasis. The movie would be much better to climax with his arrival and end with a complete blowout with Jeff in that parking lot. The last half loses all the tension for me. The movie is 2 hours and could easily lose some of the second half.
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