Film
Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
- Home
- Box Office
- Listings
- Trailers
- Features
Bookmark this page- Edition:
SubUrbia (1996)
Director: Richard Linklater
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Linklater's film covers much the same territory as Slackers and Dazed and Confused. It charts one long momentous night in the lives of a group of suburban 20-year-olds, for whom entertainment consists mainly of booze, banter and arguments with the Pakistani proprietors of the convenience store where they habitually hang out, and examines the friends' reactions to the visit of a former schoolmate-turned-rock star. Allegiances shift, animosities erupt, violence rears its head, tragedy looms. While it's true that playwright Eric Bogosian's screenplay fails to avoid the kind of tidy twists and contrivances favoured by theatre, and that the reluctance to leave the street corner setting makes for a certain staginess, Linklater keeps matters engrossing, partly through the strong performances he elicits, partly through his firm grasp of the rhythms, colours and moods of suburban existence. Crucially, no character is quite as he or she first appears, nor is the film's attitude towards the kids simplistically sympathetic or condemnatory.Author: GA
Cast & crew
Director: Richard Linklater
Producer: Anne Walker-McBay
Cast: Jayce Bartok, Amie Carey, Nicky Katt, Ajay Naidu, Parker Posey, Giovanni Ribisi, Samia Shoaib, Steve Zahn full cast
Duration: 121 mins
Most popular on this site
Features
To the letter
Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.
Mind over matter
David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.
Fool's gold
Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.
We are the championed
Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."
A history of violence
Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.
True romantic
James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.
Playing in the dark
MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.
Junk bonds
Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.
What do you think?
Post your review now