A review of Empire Records (1995)

A review of "Empire records" movie, a 1995 teen comedy pitched somewhere between "Dazed and Confused" and "Clerks." It tells the day in the life of the employees of the empire store and their efforts to prevent the takeover of their beloved record store by a large multinational company.

Empire records

Released in 1995, “Empire Records” is a youthful comedy that tells the story of a day in the life of an independent record store - the Empire Records of the title. However, this is not like any other day, the employees find out about a large corporations bid to buy the store and turn it into one of those indistinctive music chain stores. Rory Cochrane (Best known from CSI Miami) plays Lucas, one of the store clerks who takes a days takings and goes to a casino in Atlantic City, in an attempt to win enough money so that he can buy the store for the manager Joe (Anthony LaPaglia), who is a father figure to the rest of the employees. Needless to say that he loses all the money and Joe must try to cover the shortfall in the takings while fending off the multinational company.

Solid young cast

Because all the events happen in one day, the story is a little unbelievable; more seems to happen to the store clerks in a single day than happens to most people in an entire lifetime. However, as far fetched as the plot may be, there is also an air of authenticity to it, perhaps because it was written by a real life record store clerk. Another plus point is the cast, which includes a young Renee Zellweger and Liv Tyler. Led ably by the ever excellent LaPaglia they deliver uniformly good performances with Cochrane’s witty, alienated store clerk the standout.

Generation x

Released around the same time as “Clerks,” and with similar counter culture, generation X themes, the film drew obvious comparisons with Kevin Smiths slacker comedy upon its initial release. While it can never hope to hit the heights of Smith’s debut, it’s an enjoyable if clichéd film which views the world through rose tinted glasses in a way that only films can.