SubUrbia 1996

From the director of Dazed and Confused is another coming-of-age story about young adults who loiter outside of a convenience store as they try to figure out what to do with their post high school lives.

I liked it. It was thoughtful, albeit aimless, and the setting was relatable. Small town in Texas, pretty boring, but real. You got your conflicted cynic (Giovanni Ribisi), his activist punky artist girlfriend, the immature annoying sidekick (Steve Zahn), the jaded drunk nihilist (Nicky Katt), the timid girl with drug and domestic issues, the newfound rockstar who made it big because he left this shitty town, and the rock star's handler (Parker Posey). All these characters hang out in the lot of a convenience store, much to the dismay of the Indian store owner.

It's a surprisingly engaging story about nothing that takes a dark turn. Then there's another twist that will blow your mind on account of it being so unrealistic: the annoying dumbass gets the girl?!

@tromafreak is absolutely right about Steve Zahn in this. I understand why a group would want to include a character like him. He makes everyone look better by contrast. What an obnoxious fucking twat. Why didn't Samir^Nazeer blast him into oblivion? Or at least shoot him in the nuts RoboCop style to prevent him from procreating? Then we wouldn't have that unbelievable ending, and I would give this movie 5 stars instead of 4.

Richard Linklater is pretty good.

#Review