The Suburbans (1999)

A 1980s one-hit wonder band named "The Suburbans" reform for a special performance at one of the ex-member's wedding. At the wedding, a young record company talent scout happens to be in ... See full summary »

Director:

Donal Lardner Ward

Writers:

Donal Lardner Ward, Tony Guma

Stars:

Donal Lardner Ward, Tony Guma, Craig Bierko

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Donal Lardner Ward	...	Danny
Tony Guma	...	Rory
Craig Bierko	...	Mitch
Will Ferrell	...	Gil
Dick Clark	...	Himself
Amy Brenneman	...	Grace
Bridgette Wilson-Sampras	...	Lara (as Bridgette Wilson)
Brian Chlebowski	...	Kenny
Perrey Reeves	...	Amanda
Robert Loggia	...	Jules
Jennifer Love Hewitt	...	Cate
Jerry Stiller	...	Speedo Silverberg
Ben Stiller	...	Jay Rose
Lisa Gerstein	...	Leslie Gonzalez
Antonio Fargas	...	Magee

Storyline

A 1980s one-hit wonder band named "The Suburbans" reform for a special performance at one of the ex-member's wedding. At the wedding, a young record company talent scout happens to be in the audience and decides to give the now forty-ish performers a comeback push. The film attempts to take a satirical look at the music business of the 1990s, and compare it to the simpler 1980s scene.

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Plot Keywords:

sexy woman | band | sex addict | pop band | infidelity | 

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Taglines:

Never before has a girl done so much with so little.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some sexuality

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 January 2000 (Belgium)

Also Known As:

A bamba banda

Filming Locations:

First Christian Church of North Hollywood - 4390 Colfax Avenue, Studio City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,797, 31 October 1999

Gross USA:

$22,260

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$22,260

Company Credits

Production Co:

HSX Films, Ignite Entertainment, Motion Picture Corporation of America (MPCA)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

81 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Will Ferrell and Perrey Reeves played husband and wife again in Old School (2003).

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Goofs

Reflected in car windows when Danny runs over the trash can in the driveway.

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Quotes

Danny: [after dropping a case of beer] I should've gotten light beer.

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Connections

References The Godfather (1972)

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Soundtracks

Ode to El Nino
Written by J. Pikus, C. Stone, A. Clark
Performed by Camp Fire Girls
Courtesy of Crazy Girlfriend Music (ASCAP)/Boys Life Records

User Reviews

Some moments, but poorly structured

When watching this film, it seems to have a big identity crisis throughout. It has all the right components to be a hilarious comedy, but doesn't deliver when it should; often merging into boring drama and romance side plots for long periods of time. After seeing the powerful cast consisting of Ferrell, Hewitt, and Stiller, it's easy to build up high expectations. Here's my analysis of that: Will Ferrell's presence in this film is so insignificant that he shouldn't even have been in the movie at all. He was already pretty big, so I don't get why he was in such a menial role and literally has about 3 light chuckle lines in the whole film.

Stiller has a menial role as well, but his character is funny and one of the higher points of the movie. Jennifer Love Hewitt does a good job with the decent-bad material presented to her, and she gets a lot of screen time. Her character is cute and one of the better aspects of the film.

There are some notably funny elements here and there, but nothing that grabs you as a whole.