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SLC Punk!
1998
Drama
Music
1h 37m
To grow up in America is to, at one point or another, rebel against the world around you. If you're Stevo (Lillard) and you live in Reagan-era Salt Lake City, then, well...you just have to rebel a little bit harder. To this recent grad, the world is his enemy, anarchy his religion, and the Ramones, The Specials and the Dead Kennedys his muses. As he takes us on a guided tour of his life, we meet all sorts of punks, poseurs, mods, freaks and a few others best described as indescribable. (Sony Pictures Classics)
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SLC Punk!
1998
Drama
Music
1h 37m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 52.85% from 1073 total ratings
Ratings & Reviews
(1084)
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Rated 12 Mar 2021
69
59th
I had an identical emotional arc with my own father but the bonding experiences were all opera related. I'll admit that even I would not watch that movie.
Rated 12 Mar 2021
Rated 14 Aug 2007
85
90th
Great Coming of age story. Perfectly captures what it's like to feel like you belong to a crowd, and when the years go by, you come to your senses and admit defeat. Beautiful movie.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
Rated 15 Jul 2009
85
86th
definitely one of those movies that you love for all the "wrong" reasons when you're a teenager but when you re-watch it as an adult you love it for how truthful it really is. its concept can be applied to pretty much any social group in life and how people are always changing as they get older.
Rated 15 Jul 2009
Rated 27 Dec 2006
84
81st
I know nothing about being a punk but I found the epiphany element hit very close to home. As such I really enjoyed the movie. I loved the broken 4th wall as Lillard talks you through the entire movie from start to finish. And Lillard, my Lord, he's fantastic in this! Great camera work and editing to boot.
Rated 27 Dec 2006
Rated 02 Nov 2008
65
40th
Not awful, most of the points go to the excellent soundtrack.
Rated 02 Nov 2008
Rated 17 Jul 2008
56
25th
Matthew Lillard really really really sucks.
Rated 17 Jul 2008
Rated 03 Sep 2009
70
59th
Saw this film waaaaay too late at night, after a rousing bout of drinking, so the recollection is hazy. Still, I do remember liking it, and thought this was probably Lillard's finest moment on-screen, save for his performance of Shaggy in the Scooby Doo films. You think I jest, but I do not.
Rated 03 Sep 2009
Rated 15 Aug 2007
77
69th
I loved this movie. This was the perfect coming of age story for me, as I was around 16 when I first saw it, and was just getting into punk rock.
Rated 15 Aug 2007
Rated 14 Aug 2007
82
74th
Fun indy-feele movie with a good point, good acting, good story.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
Rated 14 Aug 2007
90
82nd
Though filled with more pseudo-philosophical bullshit than is really necessary, this is nonetheless a great film.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
Rated 01 Feb 2007
86
92nd
Much described in the Republik, this movie describes the crux of youth and our in ability to predict where we are going in our lives despite our sense of direction. If Zack had been an anarchist, saved by the bell might have turned out like this.
Rated 01 Feb 2007
Rated 14 Dec 2011
74
42nd
It takes a little while to get going but overall it is a good movie. The main characters are unlikable at first but they definitely grow on you before the end of the movie. The actors play off of each other with ease.
Rated 14 Dec 2011
Rated 03 Aug 2011
75
68th
This movie is a treat that, sadly, not many people will see.
Rated 03 Aug 2011
Rated 01 Aug 2023
88
87th
I have a genuine love for this parody film about punkers that highlights the mindset and false selves of those within the punk rock community. The story is filled with idiosyncratic characters, and the protagonist's LSD experience is depicted in great detail.
Rated 01 Aug 2023
Rated 01 Jan 2012
70
74th
I think this is actually cool, what's the deal with people hating on it. Wrong Steve-o though! Mods??
Rated 01 Jan 2012
Rated 18 Sep 2012
78
67th
Talk about overlooked. Fine independent film with a great soundtrack. Easily Lilliard's finest hour.
Rated 18 Sep 2012
Rated 21 Jul 2011
3
21st
The more difficult and ambitious parts of this film are actually the most accomplished, but the first hour, essentially the political and philosophical ramblings of a twelve year old, required even the slightest hint of self-awareness for it to work, and there was none to be found. I never would have thought of Matthew Lillard as anything but a completely shitty actor, but he is surprisingly decent here.
Rated 21 Jul 2011
Rated 21 Feb 2013
51
19th
Matthew Lillard excels as an unlikeable yet charming protagonist - exuding enthusiasm and naivety throughout. While the film takes it's time setting up, at it's core it's about aging, changing, and identity issues. This would be good if the ending wasn't so bland and if the last 20 minutes of the film was extended to the full length feature. Good editing, good soundtrack, and a great supporting cast cannot hold up a series of repetitive anecdotes as a plot.
Rated 21 Feb 2013
Rated 06 Jun 2013
74
50th
Second viewing and I like it much more this time. It is definitely flawed (bad jump cuts all over the place, pandering diatribes to the camera), but it's a story about a acid tripping, anti-authoritarian types, so it has many charms. Prepare yourself for much cringe.
Rated 06 Jun 2013
Rated 20 Oct 2015
10
1st
So far away from anything resembling punk that it's painful. Avoid this movie at all costs.
Rated 20 Oct 2015
Rated 05 May 2016
31
92nd
Doesn't change the fact that I still love emo > punk but yeah a good movie
Rated 05 May 2016
Rated 18 Nov 2019
60
33rd
this movie has a smell, and it smells like the 90s
Rated 18 Nov 2019
Rated 28 Sep 2021
66
66th
As Stevo said, this is a poser punk movie. Amazing soundtrack of course
Rated 28 Sep 2021
Rated 01 Sep 2022
31
3rd
Anemic entry in the hip, self-aware cavalcade of the 90s is a series of repetitive sketches and ideas that never coalesce into a whole; breaks the 4th wall to a distracting (and self-defeating) end in an attempt to provide Lillard with an opportunity for some GOODFELLAS style narration, but the characters are so dull and dreary that being in their company wears quickly. Lillard at least tries his best at a stab at leading man - mileage may vary depending on your love of the stoner genre.
Rated 01 Sep 2022
Rated 28 Sep 2022
64
36th
It's got its moments, and I can't hate on anything that ends with a Dead Kennedys song, but I found this to be too uneven. Entertaining scenes come in dribbles and drabs, sandwiched between longer, more boring sequences. And though the finale is successfully foreshadowed (see how Stevo doesn't actually know what anarchy is), it ultimately feels rushed and like a bit of an afterthought. Only really recommendable if you already have an interest in punk stuff.
Rated 28 Sep 2022
Rated 14 Aug 2007
80
50th
An excellent vision into the world of teenage life in the punk rock scene. Sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll, period.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
Rated 14 Aug 2007
50
8th
This was cool when I was 16..now, not so much. "We were once punks!" Snooooore.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
Rated 14 Aug 2007
60
34th
it has a pretty good soundtrack, but the movie itself comes off as awfully phoney.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
Rated 14 Aug 2007
41
33rd
It was pretty dullish.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
Rated 14 Aug 2007
73
18th
Not too totally terrible...almost watchable
Rated 14 Aug 2007
Rated 24 Sep 2007
2
33rd
About as empty and witless as the actual punk rock "scene."
Rated 24 Sep 2007
Rated 28 Dec 2007
2
21st
Funny, but not as profound or moving as it ends up trying to be.
Rated 28 Dec 2007
Rated 31 Mar 2008
60
58th
Difficult for several reasons: the episodic clip cut
presentation, the main character directly addressing the audience, the
occasionally stupid or bad scene, & the subject matter. The "hero" mistakenly
propagates the notion that Anarchy is chaos/disorder. What i brought to the show, by living this life, was as important as anything onscreen. Watching brings old feelings back & sends me out into the street in a confrontational rejected fearful analytical headspace. The cast is super.
Rated 31 Mar 2008
Rated 18 May 2008
85
89th
it captures the sub-culture perfectly, and has a pretty damn good story as well. i defy you to watch this and not want to be a punk for at least a little bit.
Rated 18 May 2008
Rated 02 Jul 2011
65
57th
It sort of belongs to the Ghost World genre of self aware half indie half parody adolescent delights. So it's fun, smart-dumb and pretty well made. The acting is terrible but it doesn't matter, and the blue haired guy is cute as long as he keeps his mouth shut.
Rated 02 Jul 2011
Rated 26 Jul 2008
15
1st
A movie which has unfortunately tainted a wonderful ideology. It's rarely entertaining. I can't help but watch it and cringe at a lot of it.
Rated 26 Jul 2008
Rated 23 Dec 2008
65
26th
1
Rated 23 Dec 2008
Rated 31 Dec 2008
80
79th
When you think of punk, Salt Lake doesn't exactly come to mind.... Good slice of life movie with some great performances
Rated 31 Dec 2008
Rated 14 Apr 2009
2
13th
Yes, telling the world to go to hell is often the response of people who believe the world has told them to go to hell, and in SLC Punk! we learn that a young man's outer shell is merely covering his inner sweetness, and ultimately he's just a poseur that wants to be loved. But sorry, I'm not buying it. It's not that this movie's heart is in the wrong place, it's that the character arc is utterly conventional, the moralizing is patronizing, and the epiphany at the end is trite.
Rated 14 Apr 2009
Rated 25 Jan 2010
79
44th
I really enjoyed Matthew Lillard. I thought that he was very charismatic as the lead and really did a good job pulling you into his bullshit. In the end though that is what most of his ramblings were, bullshit. After thinking about it, that is probably the point, but it still annoyed me. Especially the bits on anarchy.
Rated 25 Jan 2010
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