Probably the weakest of Allan Moyle's films, "Pump Up the Volume" lacks unity at a very basic level. What starts out as an irreverent teen comedy, with some serious social undertones, morphs during its final 20 minutes into something self-conscious and simplistic. Characters who had been shades and gray suddenly become black and white expressionistic (i.e. not realistic) caricatures without adequate explanation for the transformation. So "Pump Up the Volume" is really two very different short films within the same feature.
But while this disconnect is a fatal flaw it is also the biggest reason for studying this film. Your first impulse is to assume that Moyle, who was both writer and director, had to tack on the lame ending when he got well past the midway point and discovered he had nowhere to go with the story. But upon reflection it seems more likely that the tone of the final 20 minutes was what Moyle wanted for the entire film, that he was forced to concoct a lighter slant on the situation for commercial reasons. Taking that speculation still further, Moyle hoped to unify the two segments by making the first part less upbeat and the second part less downbeat, which only managed to hurt both parts without providing the unity he needed.
Had Moyle been able to actually make the expressionistic version he wanted it might have been a real treasure. Had he stayed with a relatively light-hearted escapist teen movie it would have been quite entertaining. Unfortunately the compromise is neither treasure nor especially good entertainment.
Which is not to say that "Pump Up the Volume" is totally unwatchable. Moyle gets an electrifying performance from Christian Slater (arguably his best ever) and a young Samantha Mathis is perfect as his semi-goth love interest. The first part of the film is entertaining and the second part does make make a powerful statement.
Mark (Christian Slater) is a new kid at an Arizona high school. He has no friends and rarely interacts with anyone at school. But at night Mark rules to air-waves with his pirate radio station which soon turns his radio character into a local cult hero. The high school is a teenage version of Stepford and Mark's radio program begins to agitate the students who in turn assert their individuality, abet collectively.
Moyle's film is honest in that it does not provide easy answers so much as offering challenges to his target audience. Like all of Moyle's teen characters, the students remind the viewer of just how awkward and rotten the young adult phase can be. They connect with the audience even as his adults are missing the mark by a wide margin. It was not until "New Waterford Girl" that Moyle began to consistently get his adult characters right.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
But while this disconnect is a fatal flaw it is also the biggest reason for studying this film. Your first impulse is to assume that Moyle, who was both writer and director, had to tack on the lame ending when he got well past the midway point and discovered he had nowhere to go with the story. But upon reflection it seems more likely that the tone of the final 20 minutes was what Moyle wanted for the entire film, that he was forced to concoct a lighter slant on the situation for commercial reasons. Taking that speculation still further, Moyle hoped to unify the two segments by making the first part less upbeat and the second part less downbeat, which only managed to hurt both parts without providing the unity he needed.
Had Moyle been able to actually make the expressionistic version he wanted it might have been a real treasure. Had he stayed with a relatively light-hearted escapist teen movie it would have been quite entertaining. Unfortunately the compromise is neither treasure nor especially good entertainment.
Which is not to say that "Pump Up the Volume" is totally unwatchable. Moyle gets an electrifying performance from Christian Slater (arguably his best ever) and a young Samantha Mathis is perfect as his semi-goth love interest. The first part of the film is entertaining and the second part does make make a powerful statement.
Mark (Christian Slater) is a new kid at an Arizona high school. He has no friends and rarely interacts with anyone at school. But at night Mark rules to air-waves with his pirate radio station which soon turns his radio character into a local cult hero. The high school is a teenage version of Stepford and Mark's radio program begins to agitate the students who in turn assert their individuality, abet collectively.
Moyle's film is honest in that it does not provide easy answers so much as offering challenges to his target audience. Like all of Moyle's teen characters, the students remind the viewer of just how awkward and rotten the young adult phase can be. They connect with the audience even as his adults are missing the mark by a wide margin. It was not until "New Waterford Girl" that Moyle began to consistently get his adult characters right.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.