Movie Review: Pump Up the Volume

There is a time in ones life that influence is heavy and thought is nil. Generally, that time is regarded as the know-it-all, can't-listen-to-a-word-you-are-saying, I'm-better-than-you, rebellious teenage years. In a time when we are all alone, lost, and wishing we had an outlet, there generally comes a film that we can attach ourselves to. A film that we feel speaks directly to our lonely souls. For me, my life defining teenage movie came in the form of the early nineties Christian Slater cum Jack Nicholson angst ridden high school loner film Pump Up The Volume. Pump Up The Volume also features Samantha Mathis as the love interest in her first starring role.

Mark Hunter (Slater), an outsider in a new high school, creates a pirate radio station to divulge his emotions, his demons, and his other self, known as Hard Harry, to the airwaves. Speaking his extremist views on society as well as, most importantly, his suburban surroundings, Hard Harry becomes a much feared phenomenon by both the FCC and the community. As Mark's quiet world begins to merge with Harry's created chaos, we are reminded to "Talk Hard"! Pump Up The Volume sums up the answers to our adolescent questions in its roughly one hundred minute running time. When we are all searching for who we are and questioning our worth, Mark/Hard Harry is there to let us know that each of us choose our own destiny, that it is okay to eat our cereal with a fork and do our homework in the dark.

Pump Up The Volume has a strong cast with great acting, but it is Slater that stands out with his dual performance as the coy, Mark, and the outward, Hard Harry. As with any film, a strong story is the basis for real success and Pump Up The Volume is no exception. Emotionally attaching feelings to characters is not a simple task yet writer director Allan Moyle accomplishes this with great ease. A strong cast, an even stronger story, coupled with an amazing musical score featuring the legend Leonard Cohen, alternative darlings The Pixies, as well as D.C. punk icons Bad Brains featuring Henry Rollins with a blistering rendition of the MC5's Kick Out the Jams, is an impossible combination to beat. Pump Up The Volume is a lesser known favorite which enhances its personal appeal, definitely worth a couple hours to relive a time in our lives that seemed to characterize who we would become. Talk Hard!

Get your copy of Pump Up the Volume at Netflix.com, Amazon.com, or barnesandnoble.com