Review: Suburbia (B-)

Suburbia (1984)
Directed by Penelope Spheeris
Starring Bill Coyne, Chris Pederson, Flea, Jennifer Clay and Timothy O'Brien
MPAA: R
Grade: B-

Review by Scott Standish

This punk rock angst-fest was produced by the incredible Roger Corman and its just about what you would expect from a Roger Corman/Penelope Spheeris production. Lots of kids rebelling against authority, some great music, a lot of bad acting, and a film that somehow pulls it together in the end. For fans of either auteur, Suburbia is well worth seeking out.

Evan is an emotionally abused teen in LA, alienated from his family and friends. He joins up with a group of similarly mistreated teens that have morphed into a punk rock gang, squatting in a house set for demolition. This rag tag crew of kids find acceptance among each other, something they could not find back at home. A very young Flea (from the Red Hot Chili Peppers) stars as Razzle, an energetic punker that always has a rat crawling all over him. Sheila (played by Jennifer Clay) has escaped the sexual and physical abuse from her father by banding together with the punkers, who call themselves "The Rejects".

Suburbia is very well written and the direction, editing and sound are quite good, something that you don't really expect from a Roger Corman "B" movie. The problem with Suburbia is that Spheeris chose to cast real punk rock kids to star in the film instead of trained actors. The results are mixed: at times the acting is noticeably bad, distracting from the tight script, but there is also a great sense of authenticity to Suburbia that could never have been faked by Hollywood actors.

Despite my positive opinions about Suburbia, I feel compelled to note a couple objections. First, there are several scenes featuring cruelty to animals, and indeed, on the director's commentary of the DVD, Spheeris herself raises objections to this. She does point out that the animals in the movie were not harmed on the set, but frankly, given what shows up on film, I find it a little hard to believe that the animals enjoyed going through what they did. Secondly, there are several moments of homophobic and racist bigotry in the movie. To be fair to the movie, these kids are severely alienated punk rockers with extreme prejudices against society in general, so these feelings are not just thrown out there for no reason - they fit the characters portrayed on screen.

Suburbia is a tightly written, well directed film by a budding young director just hitting her stride. It "gets" the LA punk rock scene better than just about any movie I have seen. Although there are several scenes of cruelty and intolerance, the film's overall power is unmistakable. It's hard to believe that this was the same director that brought us The Beverly Hillbillies, but hey, that's Hollywood for you.

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