Empire Records

Twenty-four incident-packed hours in a groovy New Jersey record store. This Hollywood attempt to plug into 'Generation X' mixes together all those things twenty-somethings are meant to care about: top sounds past and present, the uncertainties of the future, the problems of self-esteem, and how to get off with other twenty-somethings. Pile in lots of bright young talent plus a jukebox soundtrack, and you'd think hipster status was guaranteed, were it not for that Carol Heikkinen's screenplay resolves all its dilemmas with cornball tidiness. Remember those old movies where the kids put the show on in a barn and save the day? Well, the Oldest Living Plot Device shakes an elderly hoof in the big finale here, too, scuppering the film's nose-diving cred for good. Still, even if it's not as cool as the execs would like to hope, Moyle's movie is not unenjoyable in a synthetic kind of way. Tyler confirms her star status as the ill-advised lass who decides to lose her virginity with has-been teen idol Caulfield (admirably self-satirising), while the rest of the junior cast hold their own. Overall, fatally ersatz but good natured at heart.