click HERE for the RaveLinks Store

Web site copyright © CopyrightYear  RaveLinks, Inc. All rights reserved.

Part two in my personal examination of drug cinema and explanation of my own drug (ab)use continues with GROOVE, which represents the second part of my own drug abuse. During this period, after high school graduation, I expanded my own repetoire of drugs, and continued on the path to self-destruction in part three in the series. Enjoy the review, and check out part three for the continuing story. Greg Harrison’s GROOVE is probably the quintessential “rave” movie. For those that don’t know, a rave is a relatively recent development; an electronic music dance with the music provided by a DJ spinning vinyl and frequented by youngsters who dance the night away. Although a couple of recent movies have tried to introduce (or explain) rave culture to audiences (perhaps the other notable entry is the British film HUMAN TRAFFIC), GROOVE is more concerned with a visualization of a rave than trying to give us any kind of really meaningful story with its human characters. I’ll admit that there is an attempt at giving us a good message through the course of the rave, but really there’s nothing that special about the story here. Harrison’s film simply is a way for those who want to vicariously attend a rave to do so, and in this way, GROOVE works to a tee. But these characters and their antics are so thinly developed and caricatured that they just seem to get in the way of the energy of the movie…energy which is developed by the music itself and the real-life DJ's that pump up the volume throughout the long night. Another detracting factor is the emphasis placed upon the effect of Ecstasy on David. It's as if without this drug usage, David's self-realizations would never have materialized. Which may be true, obviously, but the fact that this was such an integral part of his evening struck a discordant note with this reviewer. Nonetheless, it was an entertaining film overall, and one that I'm glad to have seen. Considering the low-budget nature of "Groove," it was a surprisingly slick production. It's a vicarious, less messy, and safer way to experience a rave. A way that befits a Truman Administration baby. 2000 was an interesting year for ravers, dreamers and techno-groovin groupies. We got two more techno-raver movies this year, one of them was Groove. It was nice to see a Hollywood take notice of the ever increasing rave scene in America. Groove is an excellent take on this scene. At first I'll admit it didn't quite "groove" me. But in a second passing of the film I really began to like it. I'm usually pretty critical of the realness of a film. Groove feels independent, simple and gets down to the heart of the rave scene. It's not about drugs or who you are or what you do, its about the music. That's it. Groove is the music. PLEASE PLEASE if you're going to watch this movie, obviously in the theater its gonna rock but if you have the VHS or DVD, especially the DVD, watch it on a decent stereo setup. It makes a HUGE difference. Ok lets break this down. Story: Simple. Which was good because it let the music shine. Many little plot lines mixed up together all bound by what? Music. Perfect. It had the usual elements though which is kind of a bummer in some ways. I mean why is it that raves = drugs. Is that always the case? I'd like to think its not yet even our own film makers drive the point home that ravers take drugs and its ok. E wins out once again. Sure it happens, and denying the fact that it happens could pose more problems than good but still its like we constantly fight against this public image of ravers are druggies. Here you get a chance to paint a different picture, and you give it to them again with a big YES, we are about drugs.