{"id":14947,"date":"2020-09-21T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-21T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/?p=14947"},"modified":"2024-03-02T21:17:49","modified_gmt":"2024-03-03T05:17:49","slug":"the-quintessentially-90s-empire-records-has-aged-better-than-you-think","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/the-quintessentially-90s-empire-records-has-aged-better-than-you-think\/","title":{"rendered":"The Quintessentially ’90s Empire Records<\/i> Has Aged Better Than You Think"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cDamn the man.\u201d<\/em> Lucas\u2019s (Rory Cochrane) recurring mantra in Empire Records<\/em> never reached the pervasive cultural saturation of other cinematic moments of teen rebellion: Judd Nelson\u2019s raised fist in The Breakfast Club<\/em>, Winona Ryder\u2019s \u201cLick it up, baby\u201d snarl in Heathers<\/em>, the Britney Spears sing-along in Spring Breakers<\/em>. But in the 25 years since the film\u2019s release, the film\u2019s brusque rejection of corporate monotony has felt increasingly prescient. Those years have seen the shuttering of countless record stores, the cease in printing of myriad music magazines, the consolidation of radio stations, and the further homogenization of popular music. Initial reviews of Empire Records<\/em>, nearly universally negative, panned the film for its \u201clame get-the-money premise\u201d and \u201cfrenetic aimlessness,\u201d<\/a> and labeled it a \u201clost cause\u201d<\/a> and \u201ca lousy comic drama.\u201d<\/a> What they missed was the film\u2019s awareness that a certain kind of capitalist blandness was marching forward to flatten all the art that we hold dear, and that perhaps the only thing any of us could do to cope was hold each other closer, put on our favorite song, and dance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the time James Dean screamed \u201cYou\u2019re tearing me apart!\u201d in 1955\u2019s Rebel Without a Cause<\/em>, movies about teenagers have worked to find the emotional core of adolescent rebellion.  Francis Ford Coppola\u2019s double offering of The Outsiders<\/em> and Rumblefish<\/em>, Harmony Korine\u2019s Kids<\/em>, John Singleton\u2019s Boyz N the Hood<\/em>, Greta Gerwig\u2019s Lady Bird<\/em>; these movies can be scandalous and titillating, weighty and tragic. They strive to earn our respect\u2014to prove to us as viewers that their protagonists are worth paying attention to, that their pain is real, and that their struggles are genuine. Those are admirable endeavors, and those are classic films. But a cult classic is something different. Unappreciated in its time, as Empire Records<\/em> was. Mocked for its approach, as Empire Records<\/em> was. And, most importantly, misinterpreted\u2014as Empire Records<\/em> was. To be fair, its characters are thin, their motivations are simple, and the film leans heavily on its soundtrack to build an atmosphere of messy affection and shared joy. But when that camaraderie is the very point, isn\u2019t that enough? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written by Carol Heikkinen (who would later script the teen ballet drama Center Stage<\/em>) and directed by Allan Moyle (following up on his other<\/em> cult classic about disaffected teenagers, Pump Up the Volume<\/em><\/a>), Empire Records<\/em> takes place over one day at an independent music store in Delaware. Empire Records is a vast, two-story building with its own gigantic marquee sign on its roof, packed inside with cassette tapes and CDs and vinyl and posters and Walkmans, a neighborhood spot that is equally popular with stoner teenagers, metalhead thrashers, and older jazz fans in sweaters and khakis. It is an institution, and night manager Lucas learns that it is in jeopardy: The place could be transformed into a Music Town franchise, another dull, soulless outpost of a company that prizes efficiency above originality. Convinced that he can win enough money at Atlantic City to help the store\u2019s manager, Joe (Anthony LaPaglia), reject the offer, Lucas gets on his motorcycle in his black leather jacket and black turtleneck sweater, straps on his goggles, and heads toward a table. The store\u2019s entire deposit of $9,104 is on the line\u2014and he hits on 7! But instead of walking away, Lucas puts his winnings of $18,208 on the line again\u2014and he loses, wiping out the cash Joe had trusted in his hands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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That loss is what spurs forward the next 24 hours of Empire Records<\/em>, as Joe and the rest of the store\u2019s young staff learn what Lucas did. The giggly Mark (Ethan Embry), whose greatest loves are the heavy metal group Gwar and his friend Eddie\u2019s (James \u201cKimo\u201d Wills) pot brownies. Aspiring artist A.J. (Johnny Whitworth), who yearns to tell his perfectionist virgin best friend Corey (Liv Tyler) that he\u2019s in love with her. Corey\u2019s other best friend, the more sexually adventurous Gina (Ren\u00e9e Zellweger), who butts heads with the sarcastic, nihilistic Debra (Robin Tunney), who is always off and on with her boyfriend, the musician Berko (Coyote Shivers). As long as they count the money twice and keep their hands off his beer, cigars, and drumsticks, Joe says, he and the teens will get along fine, but of course he cares about more than that. They all drive Joe a little crazy, and he might not know them all extremely well, but he notices things: A.J.\u2019s feelings for Corey, the bandages on Debra\u2019s wrist, how Gina flaunts her body as a defense mechanism. And normally, he would indulge their eccentricities and perhaps even engage with their silly antics. But this day is no normal day: It is Rex Manning Day, and the arrival of the once-popular singer (played by Maxwell Caulfield) further complicates the interpersonal drama already brewing within the walls of Empire Records. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each hour brings another problem. Joe lies to the store\u2019s owner to cover for Lucas (who, in perfect deadpan glibness, tells Joe that the money is \u201crecirculating\u201d in Atlantic City) and struggles to come up with how to raise the missing $9,000. Rex Manning appears with his employee Jane (Debi Mazar), and is just as much of a pompous blowhard as nearly everyone expected. Shoplifter Warren (Brendan Sexton III) is caught by the staff and arrested, threatening the employees on his way out. Confessions of love, various failed seductions, bad breakups, and nasty fights ensue. \u201cIf you\u2019re in trouble, you can talk to me,\u201d Joe says, and Lucas\u2019s response, while not unkind, speaks to the broadness of their discontent: \u201cJoe, we\u2019re all in some kind of trouble. Am I the only one that sees it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lucas is the film\u2019s most complex, quotable character, a spin on the Hard Harry persona from Pump Up the Volume<\/em>: His musing \u201cWhat\u2019s with today, today?\u201d is as lovely a complaint as Harry\u2019s \u201cDo you ever get the feeling that everything in America is completely fucked up?\u201d It helps that Cochrane is magnetic onscreen, a striking figure in his freshman-philosophy-major outfit, simultaneously soft-spoken and loyal while also reckless and radical. Every line of dialogue is uttered with a hint of slyness, like Lucas already knows the punchline to the joke or can guess how a story is going to end, but that snark doesn\u2019t turn him pessimistic. Instead, his agenda, from the moment he learns of the possible Music Town takeover, is to fight against the destruction of the place he loves. \u201cI will save the place that I work from being sold, and the jobs of my friends that work there, thus striking a blow at all that is evil,\u201d Lucas swears, and although the statement is grandiose, the sentiment is worthwhile. And it\u2019s a sign of how precious Lucas is to his friends that they encircle him in their protection even after they learn of his $9,000 gamble, and become aware of how everything that they cherish so much about Empire Records\u2014the concurrent tolerance of individuality and encouragement of community\u2014could soon be erased as a result. They might veto each other\u2019s music choices or mock each other\u2019s outfits, but they love each other, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Empire Records is often portrayed as a place that actively encourages the unique joy brought on by a shared musical experience \u2013 five years later, High Fidelity <\/em>would build the same feeling within its central store, Championship Vinyl \u2013 and the scenes that communicate that kinship to us are the ones that remain most delightful through every rewatch. Mark joining an impromptu Suicidal Tendencies-inspired mosh pit at a listening station. Gina singing along to the Flying Lizards\u2019s \u201cMoney (That\u2019s What I Want)\u201d over the store\u2019s intercom. Warren, A.J., and Lucas throwing their bodies around the break room in a highly energetic lip sync of AC\/DC\u2019s \u201cIf You Want Blood (You\u2019ve Got It),\u201d while Joe works out his frustrations on the drums. The entire store pairing off into couples who dance along, first ironically and then enthusiastically, to Rex Manning\u2019s hit single \u201cSay No More, Mon Amour.\u201d Berko inviting Gina onstage with him to perform the punky \u201cSugar High,\u201d and then handing over lead vocals to her; A.J. and Corey realizing they\u2019re in love while they embrace to the Gin Blossoms\u2019 \u201cTil I Hear It from You\u201d; and the entire staff, triumphant after saving the store, heading to the building\u2019s roof for some early-morning revelry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all losers,\u201d Joe had told them when breaking the news about Music Town, and in a more-realistic version of Empire Records<\/em>, maybe that would be the case. Maybe Empire Records would eventually close. Maybe Music Town would eventually close, too. Maybe Mark\u2019s band would never come together. Maybe he and Eddie would never stop arguing about whether Primus or the Misfits were better. Maybe Gina would end up like her mother. Maybe Corey and A.J. couldn\u2019t make it work. Maybe Berko never hit it big. Maybe Deb felt invisible again. Maybe Joe and Jane never went on that first date. Maybe Warren got in trouble again, and Lucas couldn\u2019t save him again. Maybe Lucas got in trouble again, and Joe couldn\u2019t save him<\/em> again. But in that instant, Empire Records was safe, and the party was on, and they didn\u2019t let the man get them down. \u201cA record is like life. It goes around and around,\u201d Eddie had said, and the fantastical charm of Empire Records<\/em> is found in cranking the stereo up to 11, grabbing your friend by the hand, and dancing the night away. \"\"\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s a time capsule of \u201890s fashion, music, and attitudes. But its central ethos has, if anything, grown more poignant with the passage of time. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":582,"featured_media":14950,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1399,1428],"tags":[1429,1422,162],"class_list":["post-14947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-looking-back","category-happy-birthday","tag-happy-birthday","tag-looking-back","tag-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/582"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14947"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14947\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22721,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14947\/revisions\/22721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14950"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}