S.F.W. (1994)

An alienated and misanthropic teenager gains sudden and unwanted celebrity status after he's taken hostage by terrorists where his indifference to their threats to kill him makes news headlines.

Director:

Jefery Levy

Writers:

Andrew Wellman (novel), Danny Rubin (screenplay)

Stars:

Stephen Dorff, Reese Witherspoon, Jake Busey

5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Stephen Dorff	...	Cliff Spab
Reese Witherspoon	...	Wendy Pfister
Jake Busey	...	Morrow Streeter
Joey Lauren Adams	...	Monica Dice
Pamela Gidley	...	Janet Streeter
David Barry Gray	...	Scott Spab
Jack Noseworthy	...	Joe Dice
Richard Portnow	...	Gerald Parsley
Edward Wiley	...	Mr. Spab
Lela Ivey	...	Mrs. Spab
Natasha Gregson Wagner	...	Kristen
Annie McEnroe	...	Dolly
Virgil Frye	...	Earl
Francesca P. Roberts	...	Kim Martin
Soon-Tek Oh	...	Milt Morris (as Soon Teck Oh)

Storyline

Cliff Spab is a guy who doesn't really care about anything. He gets held hostage at a store for 36 days by terrorists, who demand that the entire thing be broadcast on national television. Cliff ends up taking a bullet for fellow hostage Wendy - making him a national hero. The two are the sole survivors of the ordeal, and soon become prisoners of the media. Cliff escapes it all, only to find himself being pushed further away from Wendy when he needs her most.

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Plot Keywords:

hostage | television | media | escape | celebrity | 

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Taglines:

Fate made them hostages. The media made them stars.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive strong language, scenes of brutal violence, constant drug and alcohol use and some sexuality

Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Jefery Levy wanted to include material from Nirvana, particularly the song "All Apologies", on the soundtrack. Though the music was never obtained, Levy said an early cut of this movie was screened for singer Kurt Cobain, who "responded" to the film. Later, following Cobain's death, Levy said that he found the parallels between this movie and Cobain's life to be quite eerie.

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Goofs

During the last flashback, Spab is seen pulling out an Uzi that he had never acquired.

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Quotes

Cliff Spab: [to his captors; sarcastic tone] Hi, my name's Rick Forsythe. I live in Silver Pond with my parents George and Edna Forsythe, and my sister Suzanne. I'm president of the debate team, and captain of my baseball team over at Silver Pond High. I have a dog named Rusty, and my hobbies include coin collecting and dry-humping cheerleaders.

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Crazy Credits

The GWAR video seen in the movie follows the credits in its entirety.

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Connections

References Groundhog Day (1993)

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Soundtracks

Mary, Mary
Performed by Mantissa
Written by Adam Arnold Pringle, Susan Katrina Grant, Christopher Ronald Paine, Sydney Green
Courtesy of PolyGram Special Markets

User Reviews

Very much like reality TV itself – has nothing to say but says it very loudly and brashly

5 people are taken hostage in a convenience store for 36 days until a fight allows them to escape. During these 36 days the terrorists' only demand is that their video feed from inside the store is broadcast live on the networks. Spab and Wendy emerge as the only survivors to find themselves heroes of the media generation.

Don't let the plot summary fool you into thinking this is some type of thriller with a media slant. The hostage thing is over in the first 3 minutes and any flashbacks are dull and meaningless (except one powerful one). Instead we have a mixed up satire on media and the fade of fame. The plot never makes sense and really loses the point after only a few minutes. The fact that the whole hostage thing is never explained and barely touched on just shows it is nothing but a poor plot device to get to where the makers wanted to be to make their point.

It manages to come across as just an angry youth movie – with it's anger not directed anywhere in particular. This causes it to be very loud and with far too much swearing, causing you to start to switch off. The only point that the film manages to make clearly is that no matter who is the 15 minute celeb or news story that night, TV is all the same. Wow! What cutting edge comment!

Dorff is OK but just plain annoying in his videos (that apparently the world love). Witherspoon is vapid, Busey is just loud and annoying and Adams is totally misused. The cast put more effort into saying the F word than anything else. It is very off putting because it is unnecessary – I guess they thought the `kids' would dig it.

Overall this is just like the media that it tries to criticise. It is loud, meaningless, lacking substance and totally forgettable – physician heal thyself............

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 January 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

So Fucking What?

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$44,227, 22 January 1995

Gross USA:

$63,513

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$63,513

Company Credits

Production Co:

Polygram Filmed Entertainment, A&M Films, Propaganda Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1