Suburbia

In the opening sequences of Suburbia, the camera roams through the depressing suburban wastelands of Burnfield, while on the soundtrack Gene Pitney`s Town Without Pity emphasises the sterility of the landscape. Jeff - Giovanni Ribisi - is an intelligent young man unsettled by the fact that his artist girlfriend, Sooze, Amie Carey, wants to leave Burnfield and further her career in New York. Jeff and Sooze like to hang out in the parking lot of a 24-hour store run by a Pakistani couple who don`t appreciate their property being trespassed upon, especially when Jeff`s openly racist buddy Tim, played by Nicky Katt, is around. There`s also Buff - Steve Zahn - who isn`t quite as dumb as he appears to be, and Sooze`s disturbed girlfriend, Bee-Bee, played by Dina Spybey. On this particular night they`re all waiting for Pony - Jayce Bartok - to show up; he`s from Burnfield, and they used to hang out together, but in the last year he`s achieved national fame as a singer; he arrives in a stretch limo with his LA publicist, Erica - Parker Posey... Suburbia is directed by Richard Linklater, who scored a cult success with Dazed And Confused, and written by Eric Bogosian, of Talk Radio fame. It`s based on Bogosian`s play, and, despite the fact that it`s entirely set on the streets of this suffocating suburb, it has a very theatrical feeling about it. Luckily, the characters are interesting, if at times repulsive, and the situations which unfold during the long night which comprises the film`s action are all too convincing. The actors acquit themselves with distinction, but Bogosian`s screenplay is, perhaps, a bit too contrived, and too much of a tease in the latter stages.