Pump Up the Volume Review by Thom (5 Stars)

Pump Up the Volume Review by Thom (5 Stars) | MatchFlick

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Movie Details

All Movie Info

Starring:
Christian Slater, Andy Romano, Cheryl Pollak, Billy Morrissette, Samantha Mathis, Lala Sloatman, Annie Ross, Holly Sampson, Anthony Lucero, Keith Stuart Thayer, Jeff Chamberlain, Anthony Lucero

Directed By:
Allan Moyle

Written By:
Allan Moyle

Pump Up the Volume (1990)

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Movie Review by Thom
May 9th, 2008

Still Talking

Favorite Movie Quote: "Feeling screwed up at a screwed up time in a screwed up place does not necessarily make you screwed up."

What in retrospect seems to be a Christian Slater star vehicle to someone that wasn't around and cognizant at the time, Pump Up the Volume is, in my opinion, one of those lightning in a bottle films in which the lightning unfortunately strikes out in the middle of the ocean where no one can see. On top of that, it was ahead of its time, being very critical of not only the American educational system and politics, but America in general between times in which it was posh to bash the States.

Pump Up the Volume features pirate radio DJ/high school student Hard Harry/Mark Hunter (a 20-year-old Slater) who does a late night broadcast for his own catharsis. The son of the new District Superintendant, Mark tackles being the new kid (presumably for the first time in his life) while also being extremely introverted, disenfranchised with his school's educators, and estranged from his parents. His broadcast soon becomes the talk of the school, inspiring swooning fan-girl Nora Diniro (Samantha Mathis, who co-starred with Slater again in Broken Arrow) to seek him out, and things get much more complicated when one of Hard-Harry's listeners commits suicide.

The writing is funny, clever, and relevant with Slater, delivering perhaps the best performance of his career, making it all seem off the cuff and natural; both aspects of Slater's character, the unfiltered radio personality and the shy bookworm, shine in this film. Also good, in number of awkwardly familiar moments, is Mathis as her Nora makes the common mistake of confusing Mark's silence as irritation or apathy towards her.

I can't imagine anyone failing to relate to Mark or disagreeing with his indictment of our educational system in Pump Up the Volume on some level. Like a song that you know all the words to before you ever hear them, Pump Up the Volume accurately grasped exactly how I felt as I was nearing the end of my high school years. It also has a bad-ass soundtrack of relatively obscure music.

Pump Up the Volume is my favorite film of the 1990 box office year, and given the shoddy list of competitors, I'm of the opinion that it is the best film of that year, period; it may have had a weak signal at the box office, but Pump Up the Volume came through loud and clear to me.

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	Suzanne May 10, 2008 1:30 PM
!!! whoa this brings me back

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