SLC Punk!
| SLC Punk! | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | James Merendino |
| Produced by | Sam Maydew Peter Ward Executive: Jan de Bont Michael Peyser Andrea Kreuzhage |
| Written by | James Merendino |
| Starring | |
| Music by | see below |
| Cinematography | Greg Littlewood |
| Edited by | Esther P. Russell |
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Production
company |
Beyond Films
Blue Tulip Productions Straight Edge |
| Distributed by | Sony Pictures Classics |
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Release date
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Running time
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98 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $299,569 |
| SLC Punk! | |
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| Soundtrack album by Various | |
| Released | March 16, 1999 |
| Genre | Punk rock |
| Label | Hollywood Records |
SLC Punk! is a 1998 American comedy-drama film written and directed by James Merendino. The film is about the young punk rock fan Steven "Stevo" Levy, a college graduate living in Salt Lake City. The character is portrayed as a stereotype of an anarchist punk in the mid-1980s. Many events and characters in the movie are allegedly based on real life, although they may have been exaggerated.
The character of Stevo is based on the life of writer/director James Merendino, although the character is named after Stephen Egerton, originally known as Stephen "Stevo" O'Reilly, who played for the Salt Lake City punk band Massacre Guys, and eventually joined the L.A. bands Descendents and ALL. SLC Punk was chosen as the opening-night feature at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival.
Merendino created the film based on his experience growing up in Salt Lake City. Although the film is not autobiographical, Merendino has said that many characters were based on people he knew.
The film outlines the daily lives of two punks in Salt Lake City, Utah in the fall of 1985: Stevo and his best friend, "Heroin" Bob; Stevo narrates the film. The nickname "Heroin" is ironic, as Bob is afraid of needles and actually believes that any drug (with the notable exception of alcohol and cigarettes) is inherently dangerous.
Stevo and Bob go from party to party while living in a dilapidated apartment. They spend much of their time fighting with members of other subcultures, particularly rednecks. Stevo has a casual relationship with a girl named Sandy, while Heroin Bob is in love with Trish, the manager of a head shop, but reluctant to ask her to become his girlfriend.
The two of them are shaped by their experiences with their parents. Stevo's parents, now divorced, are former hippies who are proud of their youthful endeavors; however, Stevo is revolted by what he perceives as their "selling out" by becoming affluent Reagan Republicans, which they lamely try to justify. Stevo's grades are excellent, and when his father—a lawyer with a Porsche and a penchant for younger women—sends an application to Harvard Law School and Stevo is accepted, he nevertheless rejects it because of his beliefs. By contrast, Bob's father is a paranoid, drunken wreck who mistakes his son and his friend for Central Intelligence Agency operatives, and chases them away with a shotgun when they visit him on his birthday.
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Wikipedia