Empire Records A Movie Review

Some of the basic rights of passage for teenagers include working in retail, falling in love and out of love, and finding out who you are. Fortunately, Empire Records happens to provide you all three items in a neatly packaged ninety minute movie.

Empire Records takes place in the New Jersey tri-state area (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York), although it is not clearly stated. It revolves around several major story lines: Corey Mason (played by Liv Tyler) trying to discover who she is or should she be the person her parents want her to be; A.J. (played by Johnny Whitworth) trying to build up the courage to let Corey know how he really feels; Debra (played by Robin Tunney) going through a basic melt down on her trip to self discovery; and Joe Reaves (played by Anthony LaPaglia), the owner of Empire Records, trying to figure out if it is better to stick to his ideals or sell out to a major corporation, while trying to find out what Lucas (played by Rory Cochrane) did with the money he was saving to not have to sell out.

The movie keeps the separate story lines separate enough to be kept track of easily. The movie opens up with Lucas getting to close Empire Records for the first time by himself. Being told to count the money twice, and to keep his hands off of the cigars, beer, and drums, Lucas finds $9104 and the plans for changing Empire Records over into a Record Town, a corporate chain music store. Distraught over the possibility of the independent music store he works for going corporate, Lucas decides to go to Atlantic City and try to double the money to save the store. Unfortunately, Lucas loses all the money on the craps table, and has to go back to work in the morning to face Joe's wrath.

Meanwhile, Corey is heading to work with the hope of giving the ultimate gift away; giving up her virginity to aging rock star Rex Manning, who is coming to do an in-store appearance at Empire Records that day. Unbeknownst to her, co-worker and friend A.J. is realizing that time is drawing close, and Corey will be going away to college. He won't have that much time left to let her know that he has always loved her. So, he has until 1:37 that day to let her know how he feels. He has to tell the girl of his dreams that he loves her before she leaves and he stays back in their home town.

As A.J. is pining over Corey, Debra comes storming into the store and heads into the bathroom to shave her head. She is in the midst of needing a change in her life, but without any sort of direction. Apparently she had a fight with her boyfriend, Berko, who also works at Empire Records, and needs to do something to make her feel different and changed. To help her realize how much she means to the world and the people she works with, her friends and co-workers have a funeral for Deb, with her as the guest of honor.

These three story lines flow easily together along with Joe trying to figure out how to save Empire Records, raise the money again he needs to buy the store. Also, he needs to know what to do with Lucas, who has become an odd transcendental Yoda type of figure upon his return from Atlantic City. Throughout it all there are other minor stories that pop up, such as Marc trying to figure how to put together a band; Warren, who comes into the store to shoplift, but ends up working at the store; and Jane, Rex Manning's assistant, who is learning that sometimes you need to know when to walk away from the job you had growing up.

All in all, Empire Records is a classic movie for those who grew up during the 1990's. With a soundtrack mixing the nostalgia of the 80's and the grunge, heavy metal music of the 90's, smooth transitions, and a story line to keep you interested until the very end, Empire Records is definitely a movie to add to your DVD collection.