Suburbia

Bomb Rating: 

If director Richard Linklater really wanted to commit professional suicide, he should have attempted to turn "Slackers" into a Broadway musical, not inflicted another two hours of ineptitude on the movie-going public.

It suddenly appears as if any idiot in America can make one of these stupid postmodern youth films. I'll supply the recipe for such a film using quotes thoughtfully supplied by the film's press kit.

First, make sure your film "pulls us into the youth culture of Everywhere, U.S.A." and has lots of "idiosyncratic characters." (Incidentally, what kind of movies have nonidiosyncratic characters?) Next: Have your characters discuss issues of "cynicism vs. idealism" and "alienation vs. community." Thirdly: Supplement it with a soundtrack full -- like snot in the nose of a sick child -- of music from "some of today's edgiest alternative bands." Congratulations, you've got yourself a movie recipe -- just add money.

If director Richard Linklater really wanted to commit professional suicide, he should have attempted to turn "Slackers" into a Broadway musical, not inflicted another two hours of ineptitude on the movie-going public. I certainly don't need Linklater to tell me yet again that suburban life in Austin, Texas, is really, really dull.

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