Sunset Strip (2000)

Sunset Strip: Directed by Adam Collis. With Simon Baker, Anna Friel, Nick Stahl, Rory Cochrane. A comedy that takes place over twenty-four hours on the Sunset Strip, in 1972.

“Anna Friel probably wishes she had Rachel Weiszu0026#39;s agent; otherwise she wouldnu0026#39;t have been stuck in the likes of u0026quot;An Everlasting Piece,u0026quot; u0026quot;Rogue Traderu0026quot; (the Nick Leeson biopic which went directly to cable in the US), u0026quot;Mad Cowsu0026quot; and u0026quot;Sunset Strip.u0026quot; Barely released in America and never released here, the movie proves yet again that you should beware of anything that gets its sole airings on cable well after midnight and which isnu0026#39;t a porn movie.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSet in 1972 LA, the movie focuses on a day in the life of a variety of people in or linked to the music business – but with the exception of Jared Letou0026#39;s wild and crazy singer, doesnu0026#39;t gets us interested in any of them. Not Simon Bakeru0026#39;s photographer, not Nick Stahlu0026#39;s guitarist, not Adam Goldbergu0026#39;s manager, not Rory Cochraneu0026#39;s songwriter, not even Frielu0026#39;s costume designer. The movie wants a Cameron Crowe feel but never achieves it, except in one scene where Baker and Friel discuss the size of the latteru0026#39;s breasts – and only because u0026quot;Singlesu0026quot; had something similar and much, much better. (Actually, everything about u0026quot;Singlesu0026quot; is much, much better.)u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMaybe itu0026#39;s me, but thereu0026#39;s something wrong when a movie with music at its core has a soundtrack that sucks, both in terms of the score from Stewart Copeland and the songs heard; ironically, this results in one of the rare moments that works, when Stahlu0026#39;s band goes on stage as support for a visiting English band and winds up getting booed off. At that point the movie does capture the frustration of doing your best and finding itu0026#39;s not good enough, but with too few scenes like that, weu0026#39;re left checking the time to see when it ends (and it takes a long time – beware of movies that seem to last an eternity even at less than 90 minutes). The main band, by the way, is supposed to blow the audience away, but theyu0026#39;re actually duller than the support.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eNo one will ever accuse the makers of glamourising LA, but even u0026quot;That u0026#39;70s Showu0026quot; has more convincing period detail; and with no real coherence in its story and a wrapup that makes you wonder if a lot of the plot was left on Foxu0026#39;s cutting room floor, this viewer was left thanking the stars for Anna Frielu0026#39;s declining to wear a bra. Not that it prevents u0026quot;Sunset Stripu0026quot; from scoring a 98 on the u0026quot;Is this boring or what?u0026quot; scale; this should have gotten lost in its rock and roll and drifted away.”