Penelope Spheeris, loyal punk film director, presents a starkly depressing tale about a handful of ostracized teenagers known as The Rejected Kids. They're a group of punks who left home, neglected in one way or another (except for the main character, Jack) and take up living in condemned housing in Los Angeles. Trouble seems to follow them wherever they go because they make easy targets.
This is a treat in several respects, despite being such a horribly depressing and, sadly, honest film. First, you get to see performances by old punk favorites, T.S.O.L., DI, and The Vandals. Second, Wade Watson (bass player for the US Bombs) and Flea (in his film debut) are casted as two of the delinquent teens. The instrumental soundtrack, too, is very good. And third, is the sheer honesty with the disappointment of the suburbs, which were once proclaimed as the future Utopia. What it turned out to be was a disaster of crass consumerism that denied too much human affection, replacing it instead with the satisfaction of consumption, so much so that in the end, the suburbs had their problems just like everyone else, only they did a better job of hiding it behind the imagery of white picket fences and perfect lawns. This film is one of many to make that point.
This is a treat in several respects, despite being such a horribly depressing and, sadly, honest film. First, you get to see performances by old punk favorites, T.S.O.L., DI, and The Vandals. Second, Wade Watson (bass player for the US Bombs) and Flea (in his film debut) are casted as two of the delinquent teens. The instrumental soundtrack, too, is very good. And third, is the sheer honesty with the disappointment of the suburbs, which were once proclaimed as the future Utopia. What it turned out to be was a disaster of crass consumerism that denied too much human affection, replacing it instead with the satisfaction of consumption, so much so that in the end, the suburbs had their problems just like everyone else, only they did a better job of hiding it behind the imagery of white picket fences and perfect lawns. This film is one of many to make that point.