Part of Midnight Movies
It’s 1985 and Stevo (Matthew Lillard) is that rare animal, a punk rocker in the Mormon stronghold of Salt Lake City, Utah. He just graduated from college with honors and now his life is a nutty roller coaster ride of rock shows, stealing cars, beating up rednecks and non-stop partying with his buddy H Bob (Michael Goorjian) and his girlfriend. But with the scene getting lame and Stevo going nowhere fast, he has to put his punk ideals to the test. With a choice between “No Future” and Harvard Law School, what’s a guy with blue hair supposed to do? Fueled by a classic punk rock soundtrack and hilarious, energetic performances, SLC PUNK is one punk’s madcap search for a way to grow up without selling out.
“A messy but engaging look at the punk scene in Salt Lake City during the Reagan years; that may sound a little specialized, but how many of us knew there ever was a punk scene — or even a single punk — in the home of the Mormons?” —Anthony Lane, New Yorker “The essential sweetness of its hero is what makes the movie more than just an attempt to shock… What SLC PUNK is really about is Stevo's ironic distance on his lifestyle — about the way he lives it and analyzes it at the same time. The message isn't ‘live this way,’ but ‘look at the way you live.’ There's a little something there for all of us.” —Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
