The Anarchist Cookbook (2002)

User Rating:

5.2/10   

Director:

Jordan Susman

Writer:

Jordan Susman (writer)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Anarchy in the Soufflé

Plot:

A dramedy that centers on a self-procalimed anarchist and his like-minded friends. |

Plot Keywords:

Republican | Neo Nazi | Animal Rights | Drugs | Explosive

Cast

Devon Gummersall	...	Puck
Dylan Bruno	...	Johnny Black
Richard Jackson	...	Campus Security Guard
Gina Philips	...	Karla
Johnny Whitworth	...	Sweeney
Katharine Towne	...	Jody
Steve Van Wormer	...	Double D
Sandi Schultz	...	Moon Child
John Savage	...	Johnny Red
Sabine Singh	...	Gin
Amy Greenspun	...	News Reporter
Scarlett McAlister	...	Caroline
Bo Barron	...	Cool Teen
Marcus Moziek	...	Golden Chick Dude
Todd Terry	...	Judge William Haversford

Also Known As:

The Anarchist (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language, sexuality and drug content.

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Dallas, Texas, USA

Company:

Freedonia Productions

Trivia:

The college the group takes a tour of in the beginning is the Collin County Community College in Plano.

Quotes:

Puck: There is a path in life that is open to all Americans: work hard; study hard; sacrafice your youth; succeed at all costs; but anyone can buy into that.

Movie Connections:

References Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

Soundtrack:

Thanks For Nothing

A typical hollywood teen movie that tries to look original but in the end fails kinda like "Porn and Chicken"

Anarchist's Cookbook is better categorized as a coming of age teen movie then drama or comedy. In fact, this movie is exactly like "SLC Punk" mixed with "Porn and Chicken". In the end, as with the other movies, I felt like the story was force fed and the ending was classic Hollywood ride off into the sunset finish with all lose ends tied up nicely. It's watch able, maybe once... but easily forgettable.

Most of my problems with the plot of the movie revolve around the "bad guy" Johnny Black character. He is presented as a nihilist who is on a mission to save the environment with guerilla activism. So really Johnny is not a nihilist, but a radical. This point alone makes most of the philosophical discussions that take place in the movie insulting to anyone who has bothered to look up the words nihilism and anarchy in the dictionary (they even do it for you). Another thing that bothered me about the movie is the typical good guy hero Puck. This is the same guy from every teen movie ever made; you can interchange them and not notice a difference. The narration throughout the movie was another bad point, I felt like I was watching growing pains. And I love how they stole the only emotionally meaningful moment in the film from SLC Punk. I could bitch for hours, but the bottom line is that this is an average teen movie. Not as original as SLC Punk and about as provocative as moldy meat. But if you have nothing else to do, it can't hurt to rent it once as long as you know what you're getting upfront: a s****y way to kill two hours.