Released 1997
Stars Jayce Bartok, Giovanni Ribisi, Nicky Katt, Ajay Naidu, Samia Shoaib, Amie Carey, Dina Spybey, Parker Posey
Directed by Richard Linklater

"Don't tell us about private property--this is America!" So says one of the slackers who hangs out endlessly at the mini-mart of a strip mall in "subUrbia." He's shouting at the owners of a store, a Pakistani couple who feel, reasonably, that the constant presence of a half-dozen beer-swilling teenagers is not good for business. What the Pakistani store owner sees (and tells one of them in a devastating speech) is that the lives of these young people are on hold. They have no plans and few skills, and resentment is a poison in their souls.

The movie is dark, intense and disturbing. It takes place during a long night when the crowd in the parking lot is awaiting the appearance of a friend of theirs who has *made* it. His name is Pony (Jayce Bartok), and the last time they saw him, he was the geek who was singing folk songs at the senior prom. Now, suddenly, amazingly, he is a rock star. He has promised to drop by and see them after his concert.

There is, I believe, a seductive quality to idleness. To be without ambition or plans is to rebuke those who have them: It is a refusal to enlist in the rat race, and there may even be a sad courage in it. But what Linklater sees is that it is so damned boring. Life without goals reduces itself to waiting.

Summary by Roger Ebert