Word: version
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Anthony Drazen's Hurlyburly is not another disillusioned vision of Hollywood, nor a freakshow of selfish misogynistic jerks, nor just an ensemble performance showcase. Hollywood's output is its own best indictment, and playwright David Rabe, who adapted his play for this screen version, intended more than just to show what hateful souls guys or these guys can be when being just one of themselves...
...most valuable aspect of the movie is the ontological crisis casting director Eddie (Sean Penn) undergoes. One could argue that you don't need a screen version of this play to figure this out, but really this movie can be seen as another attempt at a definitive stage version: Rabe strongly disagreed with Mike Nicholas' 1984 Broadway version, revised the play after directing it himself in 1988 and now finally takes another crack at it with this screen adaptation of beautiful downtown 1998. Many of Rabe's revisions heightened the themes of destiny and accident (e.g engineered or semi-engineered...
Teen movies through the decades have alternately embraced, lamented and spoofed this version of social hierarchical hell. The evil jocks and catty girls of Carrie got theirs in the end when good old outcast Carrie set them aflame at the Prom. The "diverse" group of a prom queen, geek, jock, basket case and criminal in The Breakfast Club learned the warm, fuzzy lesson that they can all be friends despite their social differences. And of course there is the ultimate in teen popularity movies, the brilliant Clueless, which mercilessly satirized ultra-rich Valley Girls and the high school scene...
Jawbreaker puts a new spin on "accidental murder." Three of the most popular girls at Ronald Reagan High School "kidnap" their fourth friend, the sweet Liz Purr (Charlotte Roldan, a former Miss Teen USA), on her birthday and plan to surprise her with some innocent fun. However, their version of kidnapping includes shoving a namesake of the movie, a jawbreaker, into her mouth, covering her mouth with duct tape and tossing her into the trunk of a car. Ever so suprisingly, when they open the trunk Liz has choked to death on the sweet candy...
...with Harvard History 101: "the Lowell Years" unlikely to show up in the course guide any time in the near future, the burden of encountering an unabridged version of Harvard's history bears down almost entirely on the student body itself. Would it be productive to hold massive demonstrations, storm Lowell Lecture Hall, and demand the "never before seen footage" of the past 350 years? Probably...