In a Nutshell. Mini reviews of movies old and new. No fuss. No spoilers. And often no sleep.

Tuesday 10 September 2013

Empire Records (1995)

A young adult comedy drama from an era when those words combined weren't something to outright avoid. It's about a group of misfits and miscreants that work at a record store and takes place over the course of one day. The store is a haven for them, offering a place where they can work out their problems, overseen by a fatherly store manager named Joe.
It gives the illusion that work is fun, which is the first hurdle you have to overcome to enjoy it. After about half an hour it settles into something that's more than the sum of its parts.
The Remix: Special Fan Edition adds 16 minutes of additional footage.

3 kinds of glue out of 5

5 comments:

cuckoo said...

O_O

YOu gave this a 3?

I figured you might award it a PoS or a weak 2.

A 3 from me too. Maybe 3 1/2.

It's been years since I last seen it.

Dr Faustus said...

I'm a dark horse. :p
It takes longer to get going than I remembered but it's still good fun. Or maybe there was extra footage at the beginning that slowed it down? Not sure.
It's like a 90’s equivalent of The Breakfast Club, only not as good.

Marceline said...

I was just thinking about this movie the other day. I looked up the Wikipedia article and everything. I think it was because of the Reality Bites TV show? My mind works in weird ways.

I tend to associate it with Dazed and Confused, though I don't think it's as good as that one either. Just an ensemble cast movie that takes place in a day and came out around the same time.

It's certainly better than Reality Bites, though I don't know if that's strong praise.

cuckoo said...

This one and D&Z have Rory Cochrane goodness. XD

This one has Ethan Embry and he's just a likable sort of fellow.

Although D&Z has Adam Goldberg and he's great.

If I had to choose between the two films, I don't know which one I like better.

Dr Faustus said...

Dazed + Confused is so good! It would be the winner on my list.