Customer Reviews

Groove (Special Edition)

5 star:		(41)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

"Groove" is the amazing directorial debut of documentary filmmaker Greg Harrison, who masterfully captures the life of several young adults in the underground raver community in San Francisco. Visually stunning, highly addictive rave music, and an excellent script and cast, the film "nearly jumps off the screen," as a writer for "Rolling Stone" magazine described it.

The film's cast which includes Rachel True ("CB4"; "Half-Baked"; "The Craft"), Denny Kirkwood ("Never Been Kissed") and Steve Van Wormer ("Idle Hands") are all fantastic, as well as the many actors who were casted via casting calls in the San Francisco area. The appearance of many popular rave/techno deejays such as DJ Polywog and DJ Digweed also add realism and authencity to this great film. However, the two scene stealers in this film have to be Lola Glaudini who plays "Leyla" and Hamish Linklater who plays "David" a workaholic writer who can't seem to enjoy a good time. Their encounter, and instant romance was the film's main subplot, and it made the film a feel-good movie at the conclusion. Ms. Glaudini who has appeared on television's "NYPD Blue" is one of today's talented young actresses, and after seeing her in this film, I anticipate a promising career in the near future.

Just like the film's tagline, "Are you feeling it?", I definitely felt the force of this independent feature film. When I read that the Catholic Archdiocese of New York City classified this film as morally offensive, I ran off to see even more so, however I found nothing offensive about it. As a Catholic, I probably will be casted to hell, however if so, I have no regrets in seeing this film. If you liked the film, I highly recommend its' soundtrack as well. Overall, groove is an experience you would not want to miss. Truly it is one of the best films of 2000.

The movie from a storyline standpoint is intruiging since there aren't many movies of this sort to choose from in the "electronic dance" (rave) scene. The movie is pretty short, although that isn't the real problem with it.

The actual dialogue between the characters seemed a bit forced, such as the exchange between the promoter and one of his buddies who questions why he goes through the hassle of putting parties together anyway. Other aspects such as acting, and I hate to pick on the DJs but snaz and digweed seemed to me like they were trying to act as DJs, not actually being them, slowed the film down a bit.

The energy brought into Leyla's character was a nice boost to the movie, and the scene where Dave is outside beginning to feel the effects did make me feel a bit queasy :)

The film did a good job on trying to develop characters throughout the party instead of developing them beforehand and watching how they react to the different situations that occur. A nice twist since there have been many times where me and my friends will go and be completely open with people we've never met before. So, the film kind of caught a special element of the scene, which was a nice plus.

It seemed most aspects were covered in the movie....there were the candy ravers, the kid who just went so he could take as many drugs as possible, the guy who goes solely for the purpose of hooking up, the first timer, the sober veteran who watches after the first timer, the happy-yet-really unstable raver girl, the ravers who go just to hear their favorite DJ, and of course, the DJs themselves. Some of these characters were developed and represented nicely, but as noted before some of the lines they were fed seem to be more pointed towards people who have no idea what goes on in the scene...a "How to..." if you will.

Another neat aspect of the movie was the actual switching of the DJs themselves, and how they all had their own styles to bring. There was Snaz, who at times did a good job of representing the DJ who had to get the music going before the partiers had arrived, made some rookie spinning mistakes when they did come, only to give way to crowd-pleasing DJs who have an enormous amount of confidence in their abilities. A particular interesting turn came for Snaz, who had to perform an anxiety-riddled second set because another one of the DJs had a serious problem which prevented him from going on.

I'm glad the DJs themselves got their deserving chunk in the movie, since they are an ever-growing phenomenon in the industry. When Polywog turned up the volume during "Twenty Minutes of Disco Glory" at the build-up point, it reminded me of everything that is fun about the dance scene in general.

To summarize all this non-sense.....this movie could have been made better, but not all groundbreakers are masterpieces. If you've never been to a rave before, this would definitely be an interesting one to check out. If you have, it makes a good start to a collection that will hopefully grow as more and more people realize that the underground-yet-coming-up dance scene offers much more to the mind, body, and spirit than TRL on MTV ever will.

While watching the movie, it brought back wonderful memories of a TRULY special time in my life. I wish it could always be, but of course the scene is constantly changing...I think it's VERY unusual to find a TRUE promoter(as in Groove) for an -underground- these days, which is the key to bring the culture back home. I read a review that said they didn't know what a wherehouse party looked like, or didn't capture the vibe or soul....well, I am a San Francisco native and that is how the party are(were) here....Watching the kids go to the 'EndUp' Sunday afternoon where all the tweekers hang after parties was killer! I really liked the fact they did NOT show any kids over-dosing or a mass of kids looking totally spun...now that's something that would be taken from Dateline or please Hollywood...Yeah, it sometimes happens, but for the true kids, that's NOT what it's about. There's music that takes your mind, body & soul to another level,meaningful friendships, new found love, and discovering that life is soo precious and beautiful, being closed minded could be hazardous to your health...Definately a collectors item!

okay... the people who don't like this movie seem to fall into two main categories. number one: people who don't like electronic music, and have never been to, or wanted to go to a rave in their life. and two: people who do go to parties, and think that this movie is cliche.

this movie acheives what it sets out to be, a feel good movie about the rave culture. for other rave kids out there, yes i know that this movie isn't overly realistic, but it's not real life it is a movie. they are just trying to make a slick little movie about an undergound party, not a documentary about the party culture. yes human traffic is a better movie, and a little bit closer to real life (especially for those of you that live in europe) but this movie is good for different reasons. it reminds me of just starting out in the scene, and the (some say overly cute) ending reminds me of the feeling raves give you, especially at first. the kids documented in human traffic are a little bit farther down the line, the kids in groove are still way out of the jaded raver territory.

overall, this movie probably won't change the way you look at life, but it's worth watching for sure. so just take it for what it is. another reviewer on here wrote that the american scene is all about doing "cool dance moves" and "looking cool". i think that's a funny comment coming from the european club scene (and ironically no one really dances very cooly in this movie) i liked this movie when i first started going to parties so long ago, and i like it now. quit your bitchin.

I was a hard core raver from 1991-1997 in Baltimore and this movie left me dying to go out to a good party. Oh how I miss those days. If you want a small glimpse into the life of a raver you should watch this movie; moreover, the movie reflects how some ravers actually go to parties for the music and not the drugs.

This movie was definatly interesting. It brought me back to my younger days when I used to sneak out and tell my parents that I was going over a freinds house to spend the night. It gave me that feeling of knowing that you were doing something that you were not supposed to.

Groove is set in SanFrancisco, the dirty metropolitan area blends to make a gritty dark film with the light of children in all there wickedness.

Basically its about a promoter of the rave scene that has lot's of friends and is trying to throw the ultimate underground. There are a few setback's in his journey. The place where they picked for the rave was perfectly set in a dark warehouse district with a police station only blocks away. One of the main characters has never done "E" before and he is persuaded to go. In doing so he meets a beautiful raver girl that shows him life from a different perspective.

Maybe it's because I grew up like the film portrays kids. It just brought me back to the badness of childhood in all its splendor. All of the character development is awesome and they are all fighting there own problems in different ways.

Its a fast paced fun journey (This film) I highly recommend it. It pretty much has everything you look for in a film/// Drama, a good story line and fun acting.

I give it 5 stars..It's definatly a genre. That's just my opinion

This movie is a great and pretty accurate depiction of underground raves. If you're not a techno-music fan or don't even care about raves, you'll probably find this movie pointless and superficial and you should skip it.
But if you're the least open-minded, interested about what underground raves are about, you will like it. I know I did.

First the criticism: this movie is so chock full of stereotypes and - believe it or not - cliches, it isn't funny. From the opening of the bay door in the beginning to finding electricity that works to finding cops who let you rave on, it never lets up. But, then again, that is from the point of view of what makes a 'good' movie.

Now for the good news. If you've been a raver, wanna be raver, pseudo raver or someone just curious, it's all about the music, the groove and freeing yourself through dance. This movie rates way high for all of the above. The movie is just a vehicle to showcase the music. You've got more cliches - the wannabe DJ (why is it that he looks like DJ QBert?), the crazy haired chick DJ, the geek DJ and John Digweed making a (great) cameo - all spinning music. Again, while they are caricatures (even Digweed, a caricature of the superstar DJ), they are vehicles to the music.

Showing this through the eyes of an uptight business writer was relatively clever but all of the other characters are pretty much uninteresting. I didn't really care a whole lot about what was up. Perhaps you'll find yourself in some of the types. Overall though, they - and the rave scene as a whole - come across as a bunch of drug using, sensation oriented, can't get high enough bunch of people. Perhaps this is more true than we care to admit.

If you've been to one rave or been to a bunch of raves, you'll find yourself right back there and feeling that urge to move. In all honesty, though, I could've left the movie behind and stuck with the music and the visuals. But sit back, watch and smile, and have some fun. Just don't expect much depth.

By the way, 'the end of rave culture' simply means that once something pure has gone mainstream, it is on the decline. When mainstream books and movies find their way into a large audience it has become - and this is a negative - popular.

I can agrre with most on this movie... it has elements of cheesiness...but this movie did make me smile on more that one occasion. This is what raves and parites are all about...bringing the people together, having a good time, and not letting anything stand in your way of having a good time. The highlight of this movie would definitely have to be the John Digweed performance scene. If anyone has ever seen Digweed live, he is absolutely phenomenal. He takes your breath away and in this film he does not fail to succeed in doing so. The soundtrack is good as well. I recommend watching this film with your raver friends. It will make you anticipate the arrival of the next weekend. PLUR.

If you've been going out to parties(raves) for a while, you'll get a huge kick out of this movie. It hits home in so many ways, it is very funny to look at the rave scene from a different point of view. On the other hand, it reminds me of the "good old days" back when map points were the rule, and water was free. This was filmed in San Francisco, so it is based on that scene, if your not from here, then it may seem a little "off". Overall this was a great movie, and a great look(even for non-ravers) into a scene that has been growing and evolving tremendously in the last 10 years. I give it 4 stars, simply because the movie was great but at some points I feel the realism was lost.