Sunset Strip (2000) User Reviews

A Tribute to the 70's

[jolyan · 7/10 · 14 January 2004]

This is a fun, quirky, magnetic little movie about trying to make it in the 1970's rock scene amidst L.A.'s famed Sunset Strip District. It stays away from some of the heavier issues going on in the 70's, but I found that the trip it does bring us on is unique enough and real enough to play as good film making. Nick Stahl is believable in the rock n roll wannabe roll, and Leto is scene stealing as the STAR.

Although it doesn't have the heart of an Almost Famous or the dirt of a Boogie Nights, it meets both films halfway and entertains.

Fun way to spend a sunny afternoon

[MsJ_Utah79 · 7/10 · 4 February 2021]

Fun 70s rock n' roll tale, especially for those who enjoy music & have a good grasp of pop culture. Watched it to see Tommy Flanagan, I like his brand of sex appeal in each of his unique roles. Just wish there was more of him in this one. Worth checking out.

The Real Stuff

[fastfilmhh · 9 November 2004]

What do you want in a movie? If it's verisimilitude, you must have subjective overview for the context, or else it's just another period piece as distant and impersonal as The Napoleonic Wars. If it's a character study, you must accept this as the basis of the filmed entertainment.

"Sunset Strip" should be viewed as a character study companion piece to "Almost Famous" with far more accurate verisimilitude. "Famous" is a wondrous pastiche, lotsa entertaining bang for your buck. But "Sunset Strip" represents the real s**t. I know. I was there. And here's why you should take my anonymous word for it.

When I first saw this movie I was astonished that I didn't recognize the name of its writer, for I recognized every one of his characters, literally as well as figuratively. The writer obviously was exactly the same age I was, worked in the exact aspects of the entertainment industry that I did, at the exact same time in the early 70's at the exact same spots in Hollywood and knew the exact same people I did (or knew of.) Anna Friel was Genie the Tailor, who did in fact die in an auto accident with several members of British band Fairport Convention. The geeky manager was seemingly an early Geffen clone. The disolute songwriter was a Warren Zevon-alike, while Jared Leto was, dare I say, a completely interchangeable popstar type of the era. My own future husband, popstar of that era, lived in the exact same Laurel Canyon mountain aerie depicted in the film (replete with benevolent landlord), while I worked as a music photographer amongst the main protagonist's doppelganger. And I did know who he was. He was one of the names you'll recognize on photo credits of the era, who owns a major restaurant here. But he didn't want his name on the writing credits, so I'll respect that.

"Sunset Strip" is a highly entertaining character study that is unbelievably accurate in its depiction of an assortment of characters on the perimeter, or the earliest stages of ascent, of the music scene in Los Angeles in the early 1970's. It's all true. And we did go out there every night. . .

If I Can Make It There, I'll Make It Anywhere

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 26 June 2009]

Done in the style of Crash and Boogie Nights, Sunset Strip falls far short of those two recent classics. It's main problem is lack of a coherent story, but even more than that it lacks for the most part characters you could really care about.

Mainly because these two were an exception to some of the self indulgent rockstars and wannabes, Sunset Strip was best when it focused on the relationship of Nick Stahl and John Randolph. The eager young kid from the sticks and the oldtimer who once played in the orchestra that scored Gone With The Wind had a real nice poignant resonance to it. The other people there, I never really cared about, there comings and goings and how they all interconnected with one another over a course of 24 hours during a summer day of 1972.

I'd see the film for those Stahl and Randolph and go for a pop and popcorn break during the rest.

What's the point of a period piece - if you don't use the period!!

[billcody · 3/10 · 13 February 2002]

I caught this film on cable the other night, and I totally mystified me.

Los Angeles in 1972 was one of the most influential periods in the history of rock music. The Eagles, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt and the best session people in the country were located here. David Geffen was starting Asylum records. Tom Waits was playing in the local clubs. They ended up dominating the 70's in both critical acclaim and record sales. That would make an interesting movie.

Or if you wanted to make a film about groupies and English rockers (who wouldn't be playing at the Whiskey for crying out loud) then why not make a film about Rodney Bingenheimer's English Acid where cute underage Valley girls hooked up with stoned out limey superstars. Again - the possibilities are endless.

Unfortunately the makers of Sunset Strip decided to make a somewhat racy version of Love American Style - complete with the kinds of characters and clothes that would have fit easily in a Barnaby Jones episode from the time. They could have easily set the film in today's Hollywood and then at least the film might have been more marketable, and the retro music might have made more sense. (The film's English superstar band sounded a lot more like the Psychedelic Furs then Led Zeppelin.)

One more thing - the only film I want to see that features the clap in a prominent role is something for ninth grade health class or the the Fatty Arbuckle story.

Not bad, but forgettable

[tim-998 · 4/10 · 17 June 2005]

Although there are a couple interesting characters and good production value, the story is lousy. I stuck around for Nick Stahl's storyline, which was interesting but ultimately frustrating. Rory Cochrane's character was interesting as well, although only about 10 minutes of the movie is devoted to it. The writer couldn't make 90 minutes of movie out of these more interesting characters, so he chose the expedient love-story route.

The music is actually pretty good. The acting is good from what I can tell, although lousy story makes the performances a moot point.

Adam Goldberg's character is annoying, and basically a reprise or a conglomeration of his other urban/disco Jewish caricatures.

The bottom line is if you are interested in music or the entertainment business and have low expectations and 90 minutes to kill, then there are worse ways to spend your time than by watching Sunset Strip.

In case you are watching this film to see Anna Friel... don't.

[benyg · 3/10 · 18 May 2003]

I, like most probably watched this film because the striking Anna Friel was in it and it was not even worth enduring this awful film to catch sight of her. Poor Friel either gets bad parts in bad movies (An Everlasting Peace) or gets bad parts in terrible movies (Mad Cows.) Albeit a leading role, "Sunset Strip" is more of the same.

The film progresses a 70s wannabe rock band trying to get a break and whilst the film is tedious Friel is actually fairly good, there are a few descent scenes and the Ali G (UK) look-alike is funny. But as I write this I feel I am being too generous after looking at Friel her not wearing a bra for most of the film…

Before you ask - no we do not see anyone strip nor are there any notable dirty moments. The closest we get is seeing half of Anna Friel's breast. - Only a mega Anna Friel fan is going to be able endure the whole 90 minutes.

Great Story

[Handcake · 8/10 · 13 January 2001]

The movie starts off with this prologue:

"In Hollywood in 1972 upon Sunset, man The Strip was packed every night. Not with tourists, but Us, the people in the backrooms trying to make it. We were all out there looking for something because we knew that LA was a goldmine and that your life could change in 24hrs and thats why we came here."

The movie takes place within a 24hr period, giving insight into the lives of those trying to "make it". For such a short period, the viewer gets an awful lot of character development. One of the many things that makes this movie good is how one can relate to the characters, the realism. The soundtrack is also really well done, it totally sets the mood for each moment and has a tendancy to carry the viewer to where they are supposed to be.

I found the acting to be believable, and was glad to see some faces I recognized for other movies. I would suggest anyone who is looking for a good movie check this out.

A weak film is "Sunset Strip"

[dhaufrect-1 · 3/10 · 28 April 2015]

"Sunset Strip" is a weak film, an independent cinema from 2000. It is currently available on NetFlix Instant Download Streaming. The director is Adam Collis. The writer is Randall Jahnson for both the story and the screenplay. The actors include Simon Baker, Anna Friel, Nick Stahl, Rory Cochrane, Adam Goldberg, Tommy Flanagan, Darren E. Burrows, John Randolph, Stephanie Romanov, Jared Leto, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Maurice Chasse, Mike Rad, Josh Richman, Sebastian Robertson, Don Brenner, Krista Allen, Mathew Frauman, Justin Ashforth, Robin Moxey, Rainbow Borden, Maques Johnson, Ande Roberson and Dave Lafa. The story revolves around the lives of various rock band members, their sex lives, drug habits and it is sprinkled with some modicum of comedy. I gave it only 3 stars. Dale Haufrect

it really wasn't THAT bad...

[winderhath · 4 September 2003]

Well last night I watched Sunset Strip on Canal +, the movie channel, pretty much just to see Tommy Flanagan (Duncan Reed in this movie, Cicero in Gladiator, and Morrison in Braveheart...very different roles). Before that, though, I read some reviews about the movie, and none were very flattering. After seeing it, though, I can't really understand why, for I quite liked it. I mean it certainly wasn't as bad as the critics were making it out to be. There are several different plot lines going on at once, all during a single day on Sunset Strip, and they're all connected to each other by at least one person. It would be too confusing to explain it all, but I recommend it.

Lame Pilot for TV show - Avoid

[jeffhadams · 4/10 · 12 July 2009]

We picked this movie up at St Vincent De Paul store for $1.49 and at that price it was over priced!

About 40 minutes into the movie we became painfully aware that the story line and acting was more that of a pilot for a Fox show. Clearly this was not intended as a stand alone cinema release, but a hastily repackaged pilot episode.

It was interesting to see an early Simon Baker, however it looks as if he has since had a nose job. Still like his hair.

The characters reactions were more those one expects on TV vs film. Bad bad bad you just stopped caring about the characters.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall.

[chuck-543 · 10/10 · 20 November 2012]

After seeing the film for the first time last night, and then reading some of the negative reviews here, the only logical conclusion I can make is this; if you weren't closely involved in that era, in that place, then you probably won't enjoy the film. But if you did, you will love it.

For those who were there, "Sunset Strip" is amazingly accurate, and sometimes painfully so. The male-centric attitude women of that time had to endure from so-called "liberated" men was summed-up perfectly in the scene where Anna Friel's character is summoned - there's no better word for it - by her rock-star idol, and upon arrival at his hotel room, is asked to serve tea by some pompous jerk.

As stated much better than I ever could by "fastfilmhh" in her review of this film, it is a deadly-accurate portrayal of the time, places and attitudes back then, warts and all.

The only error that I found was when one character made reference to "bad 'ludes." While there was certainly bad coke, and bad weed, Quaaludes were far too inexpensive and easily available for anyone to waste their time knocking off fakes, at least in my experience.

But that small mistake was nicely balanced-out by the stage-whispered comment made during a party scene by yet another pompous jerk - there were lots of those back then - alerting a new arrival to the "real party" going on in a closed-to-the-less-than-super-cool back room. That sort of social status selectivity happened at every party ever held back then, and was called "cocaine politics".

The producers obviously took great effort to maintain an accurate portrait of the times, from using and recording actual Fender 'Strats, to only showing three-piece bands on the Whisky's stage, which was a hard and fast rule at that club, unless the band was currently uber-hot.

Sidenote: If you are interested in securing your grand-children's financial security, find and buy an original Fender Stratocaster like the ones used in the film, plus some strings, and place them in a large safe-deposit box. In a hundred years or so, those puppies will be worth their weight in Stradivarius violins.

Some reviews have mentioned the lack of character development in "Sunset Strip", and that is accurate, especially when compared to other film portraying that period, such as "Almost Famous." While I won't pretend to read the writer's and director's minds, I will say that, considering the accuracy of the rest of the production, it could be that they deliberately left the characters shallow because let's face it, ... they (we) all were shallow back then. You needed those high boots to wade through the wall-to-wall pretense. The only difference between the suits and the freaks was that the freaks were freaks on purpose. And just a bit more honest. Sometimes.

Anyway, if you want to watch a living textbook of that place at that time, "Sunset Strip" hits the nail on the head. Just don't say it's far-out and groovy, please, or you won't be invited to the real party.

An unjustly overlooked slice of the 70's rock sleeper

[Woodyanders · 9/10 · 7 February 2006]

In the late 90's and early 00's there was a rash of terrifically lively and affectionate rock films centering on a specific aspect of 70's rock'n'roll: Among these pictures are the wonderfully raucous teen romp "Detroit Rock City," the marvelous glam rock epic "Velvet Goldmine," Cameron Crowe's sweetly autobiographical "Almost Famous," and this undeservedly overlooked low-key winner about six young hopefuls in lowdown funky, free'n'easy, anything-goes carefree hedonistic 70's Los Angeles who are desperately trying to make it in the music business on the glitzy Sunset Strip, the much-fabled boulevard of starry-eyed dreams and glittery glamour.

In a highly busy and eventful single day the lives of cocky, strutting, long-haired singer Jared Leto, scrawny, scruffy, wide-eyed guitarist Nick Stahl, obnoxious coke-snorting hipster Adam Goldberg, moody songwriter Rory Cochrane, eager struggling costume designer Anna Friel, and mellow photographer Simon Baker are radically changed forever as they meet with either hard-earned success or dismal crashing failure during the course of a crucially important 24 hour period. Adam Collis' assured, observant, naturalistic no-frills direction relates the hoppin' narrative at a deliberately gradual pace, offering a totally convincing, lovingly detailed, and admirably unromanticized recreation of an especially raw and exciting era. Better still, the seedier aspects of the backstage rock world -- drugs, groupies, venereal diseases and so on -- are depicted with a certain fierce honesty and engaging matter-of-factness.

The precisely written script by Randall Jahnson and Russell DeGrazier keeps the plot on track from start to finish, never letting the colorful series of episodic vignettes degenerate into a rambling and unfocused mess. The top-rate soundtrack of choice vintage tunes galvanizes the proceedings with tremendous crackling verve while the gaudy fashions and embarrassing hairstyles perfectly peg the gloriously tacky and outrageous excesses of the notoriously loose and libertine Me Decade. Kudos also to Ron Fortunato's handsome, sparkling cinematography and Stewart Copeland's right-on groovy score. And the fresh cast of immensely attractive and appealing young thespians all give excellent performances: Friel in particular invests her role with an irresistibly perky aplomb and Leto (Ellen Burstyn's useless ineffectual junkie son in the gut-wrenching "Requiem for A Dream") projects an arrogant swagger that's completely smack dead on target. Veteran character actor John Randolph has a lovely part as a crusty, but kindly elderly landlord. An unjustly neglected sleeper that's eminently worthy of rediscovery and subsequent possible cult status.

Should have been given a wider release

[jpwat · 14 November 2001]

I'm not very interested in whether this film correctly portrays life as it actually was or is among the LA hopefuls or in whether the clothes or music are authentic. These issues seem to me to be superficial. As a story it is very, very good and is superbly acted by all the main characters. It is quirky in an interesting way. Anna Friel turns in a great performance as do several of the others. It should have had a wider release - I would give it a much higher rating than many of the banal films which become "hits" these days.

Great sTrip

[vrrej · 10/10 · 25 March 2002]

I really enjoyed this movie. It starts of with a musician waking up and taking a piece of paper off some tin foil and then trips into the opening credits. It offers a photographers perspective of the music scene as he works along side his costume designer. They try to keep the musicians egos at bay, and get there work done no matter the consequences. There is also a very trippy wardrobe scene that almost demands applause once completed.

"Sunset Strip" raises a number of questions, starting with "Will this movie NEVER end?"

[Victor Field · 18 April 2003]

Anna Friel probably wishes she had Rachel Weisz's agent; otherwise she wouldn't have been stuck in the likes of "An Everlasting Piece," "Rogue Trader" (the Nick Leeson biopic which went directly to cable in the US), "Mad Cows" and "Sunset Strip." Barely released in America and never released here, the movie proves yet again that you should beware of anything that gets its sole airings on cable well after midnight and which isn't a porn movie.

Set in 1972 LA, the movie focuses on a day in the life of a variety of people in or linked to the music business - but with the exception of Jared Leto's wild and crazy singer, doesn't gets us interested in any of them. Not Simon Baker's photographer, not Nick Stahl's guitarist, not Adam Goldberg's manager, not Rory Cochrane's songwriter, not even Friel's costume designer. The movie wants a Cameron Crowe feel but never achieves it, except in one scene where Baker and Friel discuss the size of the latter's breasts - and only because "Singles" had something similar and much, much better. (Actually, everything about "Singles" is much, much better.)

Maybe it's me, but there's something wrong when a movie with music at its core has a soundtrack that sucks, both in terms of the score from Stewart Copeland and the songs heard; ironically, this results in one of the rare moments that works, when Stahl's band goes on stage as support for a visiting English band and winds up getting booed off. At that point the movie does capture the frustration of doing your best and finding it's not good enough, but with too few scenes like that, we're left checking the time to see when it ends (and it takes a long time - beware of movies that seem to last an eternity even at less than 90 minutes). The main band, by the way, is supposed to blow the audience away, but they're actually duller than the support.

No one will ever accuse the makers of glamourising LA, but even "That '70s Show" has more convincing period detail; and with no real coherence in its story and a wrapup that makes you wonder if a lot of the plot was left on Fox's cutting room floor, this viewer was left thanking the stars for Anna Friel's declining to wear a bra. Not that it prevents "Sunset Strip" from scoring a 98 on the "Is this boring or what?" scale; this should have gotten lost in its rock and roll and drifted away.

There's a reason why this went straight to video...

[BoojiBoy · 12 July 2001]

Although I usually stay away from renting straight-to-video movies, I was curious to see how they created early '70s L.A. on that famous Strip(BTW, for a great account of the Sunset Strip and the owners of the Whiskey-A-Go-Go, check out the article in the Fall 2000 "music issue" of Vanity Fair.) Unfortunately, a hastily paced "24 hours in the life of" timeline and paper-thin characters make it a pretty lightweight, almost amateurish affair.

As far as creating the early '70s via clothing and hairstyles, it's a mixed bag, with more than half of the cast looking more like "year 2000 youths" wearing retro clothing. The Jared Leto character is an exception, as is the "Christine" character w/ the long dark hair(why does she disappear midway through the movie, btw?)

Adam Goldberg's character just looks ridiculous, kind of like the "Disco Stu" character from "The Simpsons." The costume designs from "Boogie Nights" and "Almost Famous" were a lot better. Since the structure of the film was "A day in the life of..." the filmmakers seemed to rush through the day and night without adding any depth to the characters. I wound up either not caring about the characters(the young guitarist, the fashion designer, the BLAND photographer who is color blind), or wanting to know more about others(Jared Leto's character, the cranky songwriter.) The ending texts at the end of the film that lets everybody know what happened to each character seemed like a quick wrap-up and was utimately unsatisfying.

Altman's "Nashville" and P.T. Anderson's "Magnolia" did a lot better with the day-in-the-life concept. Rent those movies instead, as well as "Boogie Nights", and "Almost Famous." You'll get a better "retro culture" fix from them(well, except for "Magnolia": that film is set in 1999. But I digress.....) BoojiBoy

A movie about rock music set in the early 70's...Let's call it "THE MOST LAMEST"!

[Twins65 · 20 August 2004]

...Pardon my bad Cameron Crowe paraphrasing.

You know that feeling you get when you're sauntering past video boxes and you come across something that looks good...with some acting credit names you recognize, but somehow you've still never heard of the movie! It's a feeling of "This is probably going to suck, but I feel like takin' a chance anyway". Well, I did and it did.

I made it all the way through, although I was reading IMDb reviews of the thing while I was watching, and it sure helped not having to focus 100% of my attention on SUNSET STRIP. Kudos to the guy with the review linking Adam Goldberg's character to "Disco Stu", as I at least laughed at that while the tape was running.

Other than the alluring Anna Friel, there is absolutely no reason to watch this ALMOST FAMOUS ripoff (which actually was dumped in a couple of theaters a month before AF). But other than both films having a shot of the LA Continental Hyatt House, these movies are on opposite ends of the quality scale.

I got sucked in

[attic_pub · 7 November 2001]

Well its like this, all I needed to read on the back of the box was "if you like Boogie Nights, you will love this"...NOT. What an excellent idea for a movie, 70's Hollywood club scene and the people trying to break into the biz....to bad it never delivered. Oh and by the way...it says it has a great 70's sound track playing through out? I think I recognized one song.

An ambitious study of ambition in ambitious persons

[skyekennedy · 29 June 2001]

Adam Collis is a man of exceptional vision,unparalleled tenderness and a fresh directorial style that hasn't been since the likes of eisenstein(?).I advise any one who sees this to buy Mr.Collis' movie 'Mad Boy'-a movie of such warmth and skill one would have to be a Mad Boy (the author is not unwholly hesitant to point out his own sharp wit here) not to buy it.The characterization is flawless,and the as for the visuals-well,the juxtapositioning of the decadent backdrops with the hostile plots and dialogue is startling and inspired.i await with a foaming mouth Mr.Collis' next piece of work-for in all seriousness he is a very fine director as far as i can tell,and i have enjoyed and been deeply moved by all his movies-and what more can one ask of a film?

See Mad Boy instead

[clancykoch · 22 March 2003]

Sunset Strip is an okay movie, but it is not a good representation of director Adam Collis' work. He is a brilliant director. The evidence of this can be found in his short film Mad Boy I'll Blow Your Blues Away. Be Mine. This film is one of the best short films I have ever seen. If you want to see the kind of movie hollywood wishes it could make, see Mad Boy. Trust me. You will not regret it.