Movies That Save Lives #1 – Empire Records
As my first contribution to the site, I tried to avoid making any major claims or criticisms. Therefore, I’ve selected films that don’t take themselves too seriously and slip under the geek radar.
To get things started, I’m going with an old favourite of mine – Allan Moyle’s 1995 indie classic, Empire Records.
This is a movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously, has no real story to it and deals with age-old pubescent issues such as love, work, future and friendship.
It follows a day in the life of thirty-year-olds playing teenagers as they work in an independent music store called (wait for it…) Empire Records.
Anthony LaPaglia plays Joe, the manager/father-figure to a group of mixed-up, lovable losers. When news spreads that the store is being sold to a music franchise, the group are forced to put their differences aside and band together to save the store they love.
Empire Records accumulated cult status in the mid ‘90s and has remained a favourite in the teen-comedy genre.
Similar to (but not as good as) Dazed and Confused; the movie enlists a large cast of competent actors who enjoy bouncing off one another, adding their own style to the group’s dynamic. The movie allocates adequate screen-time to each character, allowing each of them to generate their own presence and associated fan-base.
The cast includes early appearances from the likes of Renee “I constantly look like I’m taking a shit” Zellweger and Liv Tyler. A majority of the cast also went on to pursue careers on the small screen: Anthony LaPaglia (Without A Trace), Rory Cochrane (CSI: Miami), Debi Mazar (Entourage) and Robin Tunney (Prison Break and The Mentalist).
The rest of the cast seemed to fade into the distance after small roles in D-grade flicks, including Brendon Sexton, who literally played the role of his life as my favourite character Warren, the hyperactive, smart-mouthed thief/employee (“His name isn’t fucking Warren!”).
As with most teen comedies, the soundtrack plays an important element in setting the tone – and Empire Records delivers in spades. Having based the entire story within a record store it was crucial that the music didn’t suck massive balls. A balance was needed between “dance party USA teeny bopper type shit” and the classic names often associated with the music industry. The final product incorporates old favourites (AC/DC, Dire Straits), one-hit wonders (The Buggles and The Flying Lizards) and up-and-coming artists like Coyote Shivers (Berko), who wrote and performed his song ‘Sugar High’ for the film. Although he never amounted to much, the song is still pretty catchy.
Allan Moyle succeeded in producing exactly what he set out to make – a fun and quirky teen comedy. It is the fantastic ensemble cast that elevates Empire Records as one of the few to succeed in this ‘less hit than miss’ genre and create a formula often attempted but never perfected.
So when Sunday comes around, and you wake up beside another bucket of vomit (either literally or referring to some of the girls you’ve been with), remember to take my advice and choose your hangover movies carefully.
RAMDOM TRIVIA
It was only after watching the movie a couple of weeks ago that I noticed Tobey Maguire’s name in the credits. Curious, I investigated and discovered that Spider-man was cast as Andre; a minor character in the film whose scenes were deleted from the final cut.
