Review of Empire Records (1995) by Sean L — 08 Apr 2011

This is a slight, but good-natured and likable, little movie. It's a day-in-the-life story of a bunch of goofy teenagers who all work at a big record store - think Clerks crossed with The Breakfast Club. It's hardly a masterpiece, but it is pleasant, and a nice 90s time-capsule. It's basically the ultimate 90s after-school special.

There's not much plot to describe, so I'll just mention some of the characters. Rory Chochrane has a sort of low-key charm in a role that ten years earlier would have been played by John Cusack. Anthony LaPaglia has the somewhat thankless role of being the one responsible adult in the movie. Liv Tyler is pretty and charming as an overachieving good girl, and Renee Zellweger is at full shrewish blast as her slutty coworker. Johnny Whitworth is aww-shucks likable as the romantic artist kid. My favorite performances were by Ethan Randall as the obligatory goofball (a kid who reminds me of a talking teenage Harpo Marx), and Robin Tunney as the troubled girl with the shaved head and scars on her wrists. Each character is developed clearly, if sometimes more than a bit shallowly.

The movie is just so 90s. The clothes, the soundtrack, the easygoing nothing-matters-too-much vibe, the random music video-y interludes. What plot there is is pretty cliche, but it's pretty much irrelevant anyway. It's fluffy and light, and I pretty much liked it.