SubUrbia (1997)

64% of critics liked it
(22 reviews)
65% of users liked it
(5,218 ratings)

Director Richard Linklater and writer/actor Eric Bogosian collaborated on this adaptation of Bogosian's play about a handful of people edging into their 20's who seem like the poor relations of the genial eccentrics in Linklater's Slacker. While the Texas bohemians in Slacker has their myriad… More Director Richard Linklater and writer/actor Eric Bogosian collaborated on this adaptation of Bogosian's play about a handful of people edging into their 20's who seem like the poor relations of the genial eccentrics in Linklater's Slacker. While the Texas bohemians in Slacker has their myriad obsessions to keep them occupied (even if they didn't do much about them), SubUrbia's protagonists have few if any clear goals and hang out not as a means of killing time, but as a way of life. Jeff (Giovanni Ribisi) talks about going back to college some day while he lives in a tent in his parents' garage. His girlfriend Sooze (Amie Carey) imagines herself a performance artist; most of her "work" is displayed in he parking lot of a convenience store, though she often talks about moving to New York. Tim (Nicky Katt) was bounced from the Air Force and spends his evenings soaking up alcohol and bitterness. Buff (Steve Zahn) is obsessed with pizza and is content with his reputation as the wacky guy who will do anything. And Bee-Bee (Dina Spybey) is Sooze's best friend, just out of rehab, with her willpower hanging by a thread. It's a big night in front of the convenience store; Pony (Jayce Bartok), who used to play guitar at school dances, has become a rock star, and promises to stop by after his show at the local hockey arena (none of his friends have the money to see him play). Meanwhile, the American work ethic is represented by Nazeer (Ajay Naidu), an immigrant from Pakistan who runs the store where the kids hang out; he's sick to death of them, and lives for the day when he gets his engineering degree and never has to see their faces again. Bogosian has said this play (and in particular the character of Jeff) was freely drawn from his own post-teenage years. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: R, 2 hr. 1 min.
Directed By: Richard Linklater
Written By: Eric Bogosian
Genres: Drama, Comedy

In Theaters: Feb 7, 1997 Wide

Critic Reviews

Rob Nelson, City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul
Linklater is collaborating with a certified grown-up who also happens to be the screenwriting equivalent of a shock-jock; laid-back bong-hits have been supplanted by endless black-comic cruelty and a lot of sociocultural pissing and moaning.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
This brooding comedy fails to blend the sensibilities of two artists, director Richard Linklater and writer Eric Bogosian, which couldn't have been more different--the only thing they share together is a concern with youth's discontent.
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
Hard-edged drama about some soulless twentysomethings.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Melvin W

Jeff: It doesn't matter what I do as long as I don't care about the results. And that's why now, I'm getting naked. I really didn't think I was going to like this movie after the first twenty minutes. All that was going on was the characters saying… More
Jeff: It doesn't matter what I do as long as I don't care about the results. And that's why now, I'm getting naked. I really didn't think I was going to like this movie after the first twenty minutes. All that was going on was the characters saying "Fuck you" a lot and flipping everybody off, while they walked away backwards. But from the movie turned into a good little hang out/what are we going to do with are lives, "Oh nothing, that sound good" film. It's sporadically funny and takes some turns towards the dark and tragic. I do like the honesty of the film. The characters sit around and the ones that have given up drink heavily and the ones that have aspirations of bettering their lives talk about stuff they truly don't understand. When it comes to these hang out movies, this isn't one of the better ones. Linklater did it better with Dazed and Confused and there are others like Barry Levinson's Diner which far exceed SubUrbia. That isn't to say that this is a bad movie, because it happens to be an intelligently written(Eric Bogosian) and directed film. The movie runs a little long for the content and it doesn't seem like they really knew how to end it. I wasn't expecting so much to occur during the last act because nothing occurred during the first two. This is a plotless movie, that threw a lot of heavy issues into the mix, especially down the home stretch. It sort of started to feel like a mess and it started to feel a little longwinded, but overall it made its points while being funny and entertaining. Suburbia is worth a look, especially if you like movies that occur in a day or a night. Don't watch it if you don't like movies that really don't have an active plot. All this really is, is conversations between characters. Think Mallrats, but a lot heavier.
Michael G

I saw this years ago when I was a completely different person, so I freely admit I'd need to see it again before giving it a proper review. What 1997 Me though was that it was pretentious, really didn't go anywhere and that its soundtrack was so much better than the movie… More
I saw this years ago when I was a completely different person, so I freely admit I'd need to see it again before giving it a proper review. What 1997 Me though was that it was pretentious, really didn't go anywhere and that its soundtrack was so much better than the movie itself. It was like the asshole little brother of Singles or something. Oh, and for as smoking as Parker Posey was at the time, it didn't justify having to see Giovanni Ribisi's dick. I don't care how good an actor the guy's become.
MJS M

This is the only Richard Linklater film that I had yet to watch, because it still hasn't come out on DVD for some reason. I was able to catch it on IFC, and was mostly impressed. It seems like this was in some ways Linklater trying to do the opposite of what he had been doing, as… More
This is the only Richard Linklater film that I had yet to watch, because it still hasn't come out on DVD for some reason. I was able to catch it on IFC, and was mostly impressed. It seems like this was in some ways Linklater trying to do the opposite of what he had been doing, as he usually goes all over a given city in one of his movies, here he mostly sticks to a single location for this play adaptation. Still he tackle most of the common themes of Linklater's early films like youth alienation and slacker mentality. Ultimately it's really just Linklater as usual, but that's not entirely bad.
Leo L

Crazy funny!
Chosen 7

Good film, great performances by all.