Independent Films, Film Profiles

SLC Punk!

SLC Punk! is a 1998 American independent comedy-drama film written and directed by James Merendino. The movie is about the young punk rocker Steven Levy (Matthew Lillard), or "Stevo". The character is portrayed as an exaggerated 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. SLC stands for Salt Lake City.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 O'Rielly (Stevo), who played for the Salt Lake City punk band Massacre Guys, and eventually joined the L.A. bands Descendents and ALL.The film outlines the daily lives of two punks in Salt Lake City. It is shot in a documentary, slice-of-life style, with frequent voiceovers by Stevo (Matthew Lillard), who narrates the film from the future, and his best friend Heroin Bob (Michael A. Goorjian). The nickname is ironic, since Bob is scared of needles and actually believes that any drug legal or otherwise is inherently dangerous.Stevo and Bob live in Salt Lake City, going from party to party while living in an unheated loft. They spend much of their time fighting with members of other subcultures, particularly rednecks. Stevo has a casual relationship with a girl named Sandy (Jennifer Lien), while Heroin Bob is in love with Trish (Annabeth Gish), who runs a head shop, but he is reluctant to make a serious move.The two of them are shaped by their experiences with their parents. Stevo's parents, now divorced, are ex-hippies who are proud of their youthful endeavors; however, Stevo is revolted by what he perceives as their "selling out", which they lamely try to justify. Stevo's grades are actually excellent, but when his father (Christopher McDonald)- a lawyer with a Porsche and a penchant for younger women - sends an application to Harvard 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 CIA operatives, and chases them away with a shotgun when they visit him on his birthday.Stevo begins to see the drawbacks of living the punk life as the movie goes on. Sean, a fellow punk, accidentally takes too much LSD and attacks his mother, before being taken away by the police; Stevo later finds him begging on the streets. While he understands that his relationship with Sandy is casual, he's still enraged when he discovers her having sex with another man, and savagely beats him, later loathing himself for having become so violent. His social circle begins to drift away, one leaving town, another becoming passionately involved with the fight to save the rain forests. He falls in love on first sight when Trish introduces him to a young rich girl named Brandy (Summer Phoenix), who points out that his anarchic clothing and attitudes are more of a fashion choice than an actual political philosophy. Rather than being offended, Stevo takes the criticism thoughtfully.At the same party, Heroin Bob complains of a headache, and is given percodan, which he washes down with a fair amount of alcohol. The accidental OD kills him in his sleep. When Stevo discovers that his best friend is dead, he breaks down completely. At the funeral, he appears with a shaved head, and decides that he's had enough of the punk lifestyle. He decides to go to Harvard Law School, and suggests in the narration that he marries Brandy. However, he notes in his closing narration that his youthful self would probably kick his future self's ass, wryly describing himself as ultimately just another poser.Writer-director James Merendino created the film based on his experience growing up as a Mohawk-wearing punk in Salt Lake City. Although not autobiographical, Merendino has said that many characters were based on people he knew.