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The lives of several people in LA over the days before Christmas are told from the perspective of three stories; Ronna, Simon and Adam & Zack.
Ronna, the 17 year old cashier who is about to be evicted – decides to try to buy drugs from, Todd the local dealer.
Simon, the Brit who heads to Vegas with his mates and gets into trouble at a gentlemen’s club.
Adam and Zach, the soap stars and lovers who are trying to help a narcotics cop and wind up getting invited to a very awkward dinner.
Direction
Director Doug Liman had only directed the independent film Swingers up to this point, but his flair for pairing action/comedy/narrative was already of sound quality.
While the action is few (a couple of car chase sequences have some comedic feels), he pairs them with either a solid soundtrack (Len’s Steal my Sunshine) or a techy score.
He would soon go on to be a top action director within a few short years too.
Screenplay/Setting/Themes
Told in a Pulp Fiction like ‘non linear narrative’ it is one of the few movies that tried to emulate PF and actually stand on its own two feet and do well. With a likeable cast (Sarah Polley as Ronna, Katie Holmes as Claire and Timothy Olyphant as Todd especially). Olyphant gets my MVP as the ‘villainous’ Todd – who takes a liking to the innocent Claire.
The non linear narrative works well, especially when moments in the each of the three stories, cross paths with each other – and major players in one ‘part’ become minor in another.
The narrative is fairly exciting for each of the stories as well, and some are more humorous than others (like narcotics cop William Fichtner and wife Jane Krakowski wanting to sell Amway Confederated Products.
Watching this in my 40s, does feel a bit different to when it came out when I was in my teens, and it does have an ‘age appropriate’ viewing – as I think I would have enjoyed it better had I been a bit younger.
A slight nitpick I had was that it does glorify certain ‘lifestyles’ and there is no real comeuppance or repercussions for any of the characters involved. The non conventional narrative, doesn’t really give any ‘finality’ of all the characters either.
Score/Soundtrack
A fun soundtrack that made me reminisce of my teenage years.
Overall
A favourite of mine from when I was a teen, is still a great watch after 25+ years. Some fun action, and a forgotten small role by big star (Melissa McCarthy), makes for an enjoyable viewing.
4/5
If you’re able to, please “buy me a coffee”