Leikkiä tulella (1998)

Leikkiä tulella (1998). Leikkiä tulella: Directed by John Jacobsen. With Devon Sawa, Bill Smitrovich, Tara Reid, Eric Mabius. Around the Fire is the deeply resonant story of a boy named Simon, who despite being raised in an upper-class Manhattan household with all its privileges–and restrictions–is haunted by the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of his mother. In Simon's eyes, his high-powered businessman father Matt wasted no time in remarrying his stepmother Lauren, a woman with a perfect facade whom he suspects of having an affair with Matt long before his mother's demise. When Simon is sent away to boarding school in preparation to attend Princeton, he meets Andrew, who introduces him to marijuana and LSD, and immerses him into a whole new world populated by dreamers, artists, utopians, flower children and partiers who spend the better part of their lives "on tour" at musical festivals. Simon is deeply moved by the beauty and freedom of these people, and feels they are the family he has always sought. At his very first concert Simon meets Jennifer, a beautiful young hippie to whom he is immediately attracted, Trace, a hipster on the road less traveled who immediately bonds with him, and Kevin, a champion of the "seize the day" ethic who is dying of AIDS. As Simon delves deeper into this new-found free-spirited lifestyle, he must face an inevitable conflict not only with the life his father has planned for him, but also with the self-destructive emotional turmoil deep within. Struggling to come to terms with these conflicts, Simon makes a series of bad decisions which land him in a strict drug rehab program run by a street-smart, yet caring woman named Kate. It is here that Simon is made to take a look at himself in an honest light and to learn that until he finds out what is right for him, his chances for happiness will be fleeting at best.

“u0026quot;Around the Fireu0026quot;, a feauture length Anti-Drug commercial (watch any of them on TV as a hint to the globs of cheesiness in this film), is about an average white-boy from a rich family who gets sucked into the alluring world of psychedelic drugs, music, and the lot scene, ending up in rehab (wow, now that is an original concept, NOT).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIf this film were made in the style of a docudrama and the re-creation of the lot scene had been somewhat realistic, and by someone who, heaven forbid, has ever toured or even seen the Grateful Dead before, it could have been quite good. But instead, we get a low budget, poorly directed, horribly acted, and absolutely phony adaptation of a lot scene, which is laughable to anyone who has ever been to a show before. The film makers try to be cool and realistic by offering as many cliches about the lot scene as possible, from ganja gooballs to tye dye vendors, but it doesnu0026#39;t work. The problem is the actors are obvious phonies, wearing brand new tye dyes and looking way too clean. If these phonies were on a dead lot they would be instantly considered tourists, if not cops by the tour-heads. No deadheads on tour even remotely resembled the u0026quot;hippiesu0026quot; in this film. If you donu0026#39;t believe me then go rent u0026quot;Tye-Dyedu0026quot;, which is an actual documentary of life on the road with the Dead, and see for yourself. Also, the films set that is supposed to resemble a deadlot is pathetically unrealistic and cheesy.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI saw this film a month ago on late night and figured I would give it a chance, but was highly disappointed. For people that have never experienced the lot-scene of the Grateful Dead, or on a lesser note, Phish, go and rent u0026quot;Tye-Dyedu0026quot;, at least it does some justice and you see real dead heads on a real lot. For those who are experienced, watch u0026quot;Around the Fireu0026quot; just so you can get a good laugh out of your system. Otherwise, stay far and away, because this film is an absolute stinker.”