Movie Review: Pump Up The Volume
In
the late 1980s and early 1990's, Christian Slater was one of the big
names in Hollywood. He was sort of a young version of Jack Nicholson.
Seriously, he was channeling Jack in an entertaining performance he gave in Heathers a couple years earlier.
In
1990's Pump Up The Volume, Christian plays a teenager in high school
who reluctantly moves to Arizona when his dad gets a better job. Bored
and feeling isolated, he takes the radio equipment his dad bought him
and starts his own pirate radio station.
He
plays music, but it's his monologues that get the teens in the area to
gather near the school at 10 PM at night to listen. He talks about the
struggles of being a kid in society, how bad the school is and that sort
of thing. As time goes on, he gets more and more popular.
At first, he has no idea how popular he's getting, but one of the kids
is recording his shows and selling the tapes at school. The students
start playing the tapes during lunch break, and the school staff takes
notice. They really take notice when one of the students takes his own
life after talking to him on his show.
Making
matters worse is the fact that he has the FCC trying to track him down.
Samantha Mathis plays the girl who feels a connection with him and
starts writing letters to the show. Eventually, she figures out who he is.
When he's about ready to quit, she's the one who tells him he has
started a movement that is bigger than he is.
I
don't want to give up all the secrets here, but this movie is almost
forgotten these days. I think the message is a good one, and it also has
a catchy sound track. There is some strong language and brief nudity,
but nothing compared to how things are these days. I think this is an
enjoyable movie that is worthy of viewing.
View the trailer here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuhHPQxS2nQ
