SubUrbia MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +1 Content: -3 1/2

Lost and lethargic describe the 20-something group of friends from Burnfield, Texas. They hang out beside a convenience store owned by a Pakistani couple who are trying to keep their premises neat. Jeff (Giovanni Ribisi) lives in a pup tent in his family's garage and works part time. Tim (Nicky Katt) served in the military for a short time and now gets disability income because of a mild injury. He spends most of his time drinking beer and lying. Buff (Steve Zahn) is an angry, out-of-control young man who screams a lot. Sooze (Amie Carey) is Jeff's girlfriend who dreams of going to New York, and Bee-Bee (Dina Spybey) is fighting alcohol and drug addiction. One of their classmates, Pony (Jayce Bartok), has become a successful rock star and has come back to Burnfield for a concert. The friends are shown standing around waiting for Pony, who eventually shows up in a stretch limousine. They all kid themselves that they too will become rich and famous provided Pony follows through with his promises. This depressing film is probably targeted to young adults, but it leads nowhere and paints a picture of despair and hopelessness.

These kids have no self-respect and no respect for anyone else either. Sooze curses her mother with a string of f-words, while Buff terrorizes the store owner, screaming racial slurs and threatening him. Jeff tries to calm them down, but he's so intimidated by Pony that he splits. He finds Bee-Bee drinking again and does nothing to stop her. As a cruel joke, Tim tells Jeff he has killed Pony's publicist after they had sex in an old van. Jeff assumes it's true and calls the police without looking in the van. There is no on-screen sex, but it is implied between Tim and the publicist. Sooze uses many obscenities as she chants while performing a lewd dance. This sad film is about losers from middle-class families who refuse to face the fact that their problems are self-inflicted. Out of 136 obscenities, 95 are the f-word. That plus crude references to sex, gratuitous alcohol abuse and a very sad attempt to create sympathy for self-centered losers make SubUrbia a worthless piece of work

Preview Reviewer: Mary Draughon
Distributor: Castle Rock Entertainment, 335 North Maple Dr., Suite 135, Beverly Hills, CA 90210