SLC Punk! (1998)

For a while, angry young Stevo (Lillard) turns his quest for total anarchy into a grungy, giddy, randomly violent rave. Then reality creeps up and, well, it bites.

Ultimately a wiser and truer film than its crass and cartoony beginnings would have us believe.

The film has an undeniable energy, and, at times, it works as light entertainment, but there is a problem. The central character is consistently aggravating.

It's handsome filmmaking that doesn't surface until the final 25 minutes during which Stevo and company's sense of marginalization achieves the palpable, emotional import that's more expressive than anything its characters' have to bitch about.

We don't really need some young punk to tell us that anarchy is an untenable idea, but watching him live it is an invigorating experience.