Sunset Strip (2000)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Adam Collis

Writers (WGA):

Randall Jahnson (story)
Randall Jahnson (screenplay) ...

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

The boulevard of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll.

Plot:

A comedy that takes place during 24 hours on Sunset Strip in 1972.

Plot Keywords:

Photographer | Sunset Strip | Sex | Guitarist | Alcoholic

Cast

Simon Baker	...	Michael Scott
Anna Friel	...	Tammy Franklin
Nick Stahl	...	Zach
Rory Cochrane	...	Felix
Adam Goldberg	...	Marty Shapiro
Tommy Flanagan	...	Duncan (as Tommy J. Flanagan)
Darren E. Burrows	...	Bobby (as Darren Burrows)
John Randolph	...	Mr. Niederhaus
Stephanie Romanov	...	Christine
Jared Leto	...	Glen Walker
Mary Lynn Rajskub	...	Eileen
Maurice Chasse	...	Nigel
Mike Rad	...	Badger
Josh Richman	...	Barry Bernstein
Sabastion Robertson	...	Busboy

Also Known As:

Untitled Sunset Strip Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality, language and drug content.

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Iceland:L | Finland:K-15 | Australia:M | Canada:14A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Fox 2000 Pictures

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Unscripted: (#1.4)" (2005)

There's a reason why this went straight to video...

Although I usually stay away from renting straight-to-video movies, I was curious to see how they created early '70s L.A. on that famous Strip(BTW, for a great account of the Sunset Strip and the owners of the Whiskey-A-Go-Go, check out the article in the Fall 2000 "music issue" of Vanity Fair.) Unfortunately, a hastily paced "24 hours in the life of" timeline and paper-thin characters make it a pretty lightweight, almost amateurish affair.

As far as creating the early '70s via clothing and hairstyles, it's a mixed bag, with more than half of the cast looking more like "year 2000 youths" wearing retro clothing. The Jared Leto character is an exception, as is the "Christine" character w/ the long dark hair(why does she disappear midway through the movie, btw?)

Adam Goldberg's character just looks ridiculous, kind of like the "Disco Stu" character from "The Simpsons." The costume designs from "Boogie Nights" and "Almost Famous" were a lot better. Since the structure of the film was "A day in the life of..." the filmmakers seemed to rush through the day and night without adding any depth to the characters. I wound up either not caring about the characters(the young guitarist, the fashion designer, the BLAND photographer who is color blind), or wanting to know more about others(Jared Leto's character, the cranky songwriter.) The ending texts at the end of the film that lets everybody know what happened to each character seemed like a quick wrap-up and was utimately unsatisfying.

Altman's "Nashville" and P.T. Anderson's "Magnolia" did a lot better with the day-in-the-life concept. Rent those movies instead, as well as "Boogie Nights", and "Almost Famous." You'll get a better "retro culture" fix from them(well, except for "Magnolia": that film is set in 1999. But I digress.....) BoojiBoy