Customer Reviews

Around the Fire

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

If you've ever been a fan of the jam-band scene, and still maintain some intelligence or vestige of sanity, you will vastly enjoy watching this film, again and again. Not for the soundtrack (which includes such classics as Marley, Dire Straits, Phish and Winwood), not for the actors (although there are some good ones), not for the 'authentic' lot-scene ambience. You'll love this movie because it is so unbelievably lame, you will not be able to stop laughing.

From the early scene where Andrew asks Simon what music he listens to, Simon replies "what kind of question is that?" and Andrew declares, "That's only the most important question I could ever ask you," this movie is fully loaded with some of the cheesiest and most hilariously lame moments I have ever seen. Kate Matthews, the world's most unprofessional rehab counselor, flies off the handle with no more provocation than a little junkie 'tude, then laughs at Simon for ending up in rehab. Andrew comes out with lines like "ALWAYS check the hippie pouch," and introduces Simon to guys who blow into conch shells to determine the future. A lot of guys in the movie dance with their arms above their heads, looking like complete idiots. Jennifer and Trace laugh uproariously every time Simon says something naive or stupid, leading me to wonder, was nobody else willing to be their friend before he came along? In this movie, hanging out with someone for two hours makes you a friend for life.

The best character in the movie is Kevin, Simon's "demented friend" who is in a wheelchair and at death's door for reasons that are never explained (outside of Kevin saying "I had WAY too much fun"). He asks Simon about his experience at a concert, Simon replies, "I can't put it into words," and Kevin counters sagely: "You just did." When Kevin starts strumming his guitar, entire drum circles fall silent so he can play original compositions like "I Don't Mind Failing In This World"; creative works that make the Dude of Life seem like Mozart. He abruptly dies when the plot finds it convenient, leaving Simon - who has apparently hung out with him a handful of times - to bear the responsibility of scattering his ashes. Huh?!?

Add to this inexplicable flashbacks-within-flashbacks, the spectre of Simon's mother's death (also never explained; the movie suggests she had WAY too much fun as well), and a series of festivals and concerts during which you NEVER see a band or any musicians at all (except Kevin) and you have a film that will leave you scratching your head in puzzlement and laughing out loud at the ridiculousness of it all.

It's time to open the package!

This movie has originality and interest. From the beginning you understand what it's all about, at the same time consisting of nothing but curiousity and anticipation. I could swear I saw my relationships in theres. What I enjoyed best about the movie was the time in which it was set, which was the core that made the movie the way it is. With tye dyes and a killer soundtrack in a time of sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll, it is a no wonder that Simon (devon sawa) became overpowered & gained a 'high' (no pun intended) through the life of no responsibilites and lack of parental control from his already disruptive relationship with his father and stepmother. This movie is "Dazed and Confused" with the sympathy, and "Trapped in a Purple Haze" with the authenticy. Great acting by Tara Reid, who plays Simons girlfriend, and Eric Mabius, who I personally loved in The Crow. The role of an instable boy who is finding his way up the man ladder (through interpersonal relationships and drugs) was a perfect role to a rising star such as Devon Sawa who is as versatile as they come (i hear he is currently attending acting classes to improve his skills; talk about ambition & dedication). 'This movie is a must see if your ready to see a movie set during that incredible time when tempations and pressures from friends overpower the influences of parents and responsibilities.'...

Hmmmmm... you kinda get the impression that the makers of this film had some legal problems so they had to drop any reference to the jam band PHISH from the film - - so even though they're following a Phish-like band, with very Phish-like followers listening to very Phish-like music and smoking and dropping Phish-like stuff on a Phish-like scene you don't really hear the word PHISH that much...

Whatever the case, I kinda dug the film at first for the music - - lot's of that funky jam stuff... even some Dead, Meters, Bob Marley... then there was the story... and of course you have the emotional tie in... at first this nieve kid liberated from a snobby boarding school making the scene, making friends, experiencing the music and drugs, then getting too deep and turning into this messed up acid head drug dealer at odds with his girlfriend and his Dad and step Mom - - eventually, the story goes from Rock and Roll to ABC after school special but overall its a pretty cool film... and besides, I don't even drop acid, and I've seen colors coming out of water fountain like that too !

Thirty some years after THE STRAWBERRY STATEMENT, HAIR and BILLY JACK, this is a film for and by the groovy people !

I just watched this flick...might I add a great soundtrack and a nice fast moving story line. I thought is was a good movie overall and was glad i bought...being a phish head i have been to many shows and they have really duplicated the scene pretty well on the movie... anyways definitely check it out

Around The Fire is not your typical teen movie. It deals with one young mans experiences with drugs and his battle within himself to recover. Devon Sawa excellently portrays the young man, who discovers the world of drugs while away at school. While his new found friends can handle casual drug usage, it seems to take over control of his body and mind, and he becomes a totally different person. One of his new friends, Jennifer, a vegi stir-fry cook, brilliantly portrayed by Tara Reid, shows true compassion and love for him, and stands by him and supports, and helps him throughout his endeavours and ordeals, even after he treats her like garbage while the two of them are at his father and stepmother's house for dinner. She once again shows that she is a very talented and diverse actress and can handle the most dramatic roles with flying colours. The soundtrack is very nice and it's nice to watch a movie that actually tells a story, and sort of pulls you in to relate to the characters, and feel for them. At times you feel for Simon, (Devon's character), and at times you think he's a real jerk, especially how he treats Jennifer at dinner, when it's obvious she's only trying to be supportive, and show how much she truly cares for, and about him. It may not be an action packed, sex filled, blockbuster, but it is a very enjoyable, well acted film.

WORST MOVIE EVER. It was an insult to one's intelligence, and it is sure to offend anyone who identifies with any or all of the groups portrayed in the film. Clearly, this movie is a sterilized Evangelical Christian movie, portraying the "evils" of homosexuality, Jews, hippies, drug use, divorce, adultery, etc. While it doesn't specifically state that the solution to all of these problems and more is faith in Jesus Christ, it might as well. The movie looks as if those parts have been removed and reserved for the version that undoubtedly is played in youth ministries across the country. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it was funded by the department of faith-based initiatives!
However, I have to admit that this film was wildly entertaining, bringing me to tears of laughter on many occassions. (Be sure to watch for the confused wookie checking things out during the first "lot scene".) Watch this movie with a group of friends who know what shows are really like and you'll all be laughing hysterically at the incessent stupidity and obvious flaws that persist throughout this "film". The DVD version is a must in order to get the commentary and other bonus features, and to freeze frame some of the crowd scenes. Many of our criticisms were actually validated by the film makers. Think the crowds look a little sparse?...a little dirty? Think the directors might need more film school? You'll find out all about it. (Why on earth they would admit to some of the things they do?) Then you can watch as the actors suffer through painful interviews about their pathetic characters. No one has the courtesy to ask, "Are you sorry you made this film?"

Around the Fire isn't a great film. It isn't even necessarily an artistically good movie. It is, however, a believable movie and, in the context of a more recent hollywood drug-message film -- Traffic -- that makes it a worthwhile one-time watch, especially if you can catch it on cable. In fact, most of the redeeming qualities of this movie emerge in comparison to Traffic, and it's unfortunate that Soderbergh didn't consult Around the Fire before directing his shamefully overstated story line.

What see in one of Traffic's subplots -- a rich girl suddenly involved so deeply in narcotics that she even condescends to (gasp!) sleep with a black man -- smacked of needless moralizing without bothering to present a believable family dynamic. In fact, Traffic reinforced the message, touted by the DEA (which the film supposedly critisized), that marijuana is a gateway drug, that it leads to a slippery slope to heroin, speed and crack, and that drugs in general make white girls do undignified things. Around the Fire, on the other hand, gives us a family burdened by years of miscommunication, a main character who gets high and still graduates from prep school, and a whole host of likeable and casual users. Several internet reviews call this film didactic, comparing it to propaganda films like Reefer Madness. In fact the real bugaboo in the story isn't drugs. It's sad miscommunication and completely justified rebellion.

Cut to some realistic acid-trip cinematography, and we have a film that shows us the lighter, enjoyable side of recreational use. Did Soderbergh forget that people use drugs because they're interesting? John Jacobson, first time director of Around the Fire, didn't, and it's refreshing to see a movie where the psychological and social motivations for use are balanced with the more general fact that, yes indeedy, drugs are fun.

The movie does not, however, celebrate or even recommend your weekend high. The overarching message is that the context of use matters, as evidenced in a couple of bad trip sequences. Anyone who has dosed knows that individual frame of mind effects the outcome of the acid experience. The cause of every bad trip in this movie, correctly, is the psychological demon that the lead character needs to confront, not the "traffic" of drugs.

Finally, Jacobson portrays the family therapy industry with sympathy that doesn't cross the line into absurdity, as the therapy sequences in Traffic do. Recall the bloated image in Soderbergh's flick of a young woman testifying in a huge marbled room strewn with silk banners (a la Prospero's Book) needlessly swaying from the ceiling. Now fade to Jacobson's simple carpeted room in an office building at a rehab clinic, father and son sitting face to face, backed by silent wittnesses sitting behind them, and you see therapy as it actually unfolds in clinics all across America. The primary gift of this movie, overall, is that, far removed from the aesthetic pretense of film-fest elites, it simply unfolds a story as hundreds of like stories actually unfold.

A good, not great, movie that shows the value of family without pandering to the political rhetoric of "family values," Around the Fire is a decent movie-night watch. Because it doesn't try to grapple with huge social issues, it can freely and believably portray the immediate, personal issues that Traffic tried, fitfully and failingly, to deal with.

This movie is about the upper middle class boy being introduced into a world of sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll and his recovery from his addiction. A real subject I have seen myself. What is scary is this could be your son or daughter.

Or so he thought. I really liked this story of a child being raised with making no choices of his own and what the "damage of rebellion" really caused to him. Then when he was able to make choices, they were bad ones. This is very true to life of children being raised in this kind of environment. I think that the only bad choice that Simon made was to involve himself in the drug scene of the hippies. All of the other choices that he was making was "freeing" him of his own bondage and the bondage of his family. Being freed of this bondage gave him the ability to "remember" the truth of what really happened to his mother. I do recommend this movie to anyone that has an open mind to see what choices were really being made.

This isn't your typical "stoner" movie. Its still a stoner movie, but its deeper than any stoner movie I've seen. Around the Fire is the story of a young man away from his family for the first time that experments with drugs for the first time in his life and realizes that when he's high, he no longer thinks about the torment memories from his childhood that fill his head. Maybe it is your typical "tennager doing drugs to escape personal problems" movie, but its diffently one you should rent. Most people like myself will find themselves drawn to his movie, somehow reminded of a certain time in their lives.