Sugar Town (1999)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Directors:

Allison Anders
Kurt Voss

Writers (WGA):

Allison Anders (written by) &
Kurt Voss (written by)

Release Date:

10 January 2001 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Music

Tagline:

The best place to be.

Plot:

Unimpassioned look at the lives of struggling L.A. scene rock stars follows main character, Gwen (Jade Gordon)...

Plot Keywords:

Drugs | Music Producer | Drug Rehabilitation | Adultery | Pregnancy

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Jade Gordon	...	Gwen
John Taylor	...	Clive
Michael Des Barres	...	Nick
Martin Kemp	...	Jonesy
Larry Klein	...	Burt
John Doe	...	Carl
Lucinda Jenney	...	Kate
Marion Moseley	...	In Utero Baby
Veronica Nommenson	...	Violet
Elena Nommenson	...	Rose
Amelia Nommenson	...	Daisy
Ally Sheedy	...	Liz
Nicholas Walker	...	Masseuse
Rosanna Arquette	...	Eva
Jeffrey McDonald	...	Kevin (as Jeff McDonald)

Also Known As:

Untitled Anders-Voss Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong language, some drug content and sexuality.

Runtime:

92 min | Argentina:92 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival)

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

France:U | USA:R | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Channel Four Films

Trivia:

The three girls that played the Carl's daughters are John Doe's children in real life.

Soundtrack:

Kate Moss

Short on plot, but long on appeal.

"Sugar Town," Allison Anders and Kurt Voss's comedy-drama about life on the fringes of the music world, doesn't have an actual story per se - it's more of a collection of vignettes that don't make a unified whole, but if it's a mess, it's a likeable one.

Following an ambitious young singer (Jade Gordon), a production designer (Ally Sheedy) who makes friends with her, a session guitarist with a pregnant wife who gets a shot at a tour with a Latin singer, a group made up of former British rock stars (amusingly, all played by actual former British rock stars) whose big deal is dependent on Beverly D'Angelo's lust for one of them ("If she had a teenage daughter... but you know how Nick is about having sex with adult women"), and Rosanna Arquette coping with a) getting offered a role as Christina Ricci's mother and b) finding her ex-rock star husband may or may not have fathered a son on tour.

The movie's casual tone leaves a few of these lines unresolved, and if it's a bother that the movie's most unsympathetic character never gets hers, the movie's abrupt ending seems more of a natural progression than a mistake on the part of the writers. References to Fiona Apple and Blur already make it seem a bit dated, but there are plenty of fun moments throughout (such as Michael Des Barres' attempt to pick up Bijou Phillips in a bar and the sight of Arquette bonding with her stepson). Not overly significant, but worth seeing. And it's nice to see Rosanna Arquette in a good movie for once - when her character comments that she hasn't been getting decent scripts, us fans know what she means.