A young ex-con's attempt to start a new life is jeopardized by his drug-addicted former cellmate in BOOGIE BOY, a passable crime drama that could have used a little more plot and a lot less attitude.
Freed after serving time for stealing a motorcycle, Jesse (Mark Dacascos) meets his prison friend Larry (Jaimz Woolvert) in LA. He takes Jesse to the house where he lives with a group of other drug addicts and dealers. Jesse is offered a tryout as drummer with a rising rock band. But when he
reluctantly agrees to act as muscle on a drug deal that Larry has set up with two yuppies, a fight erupts and the prospective buyers are killed. Knowing there will be repercussions, he and Larry head for the desert on Jesse's motorcycle.
Sick from prolonged drug abuse, Larry forces Jesse to stop at an abandoned motel occupied by Edsel (Frederic Forrest) and his wife Hester (Emily Lloyd). Jesse is as anxious to get to Detroit for his audition as he is to get away from LA, and so grows increasingly annoyed with Larry's drug use. He
is also puzzled by Hester, who comes on to him and complains that Edsel will kill her if she tries to leave.
Larry secretly calls his house to arrange for more drugs, not knowing that his roommates have been killed by the yuppies' vengeful older brothers Freddy (Ben Browder) and Jason (James Lew). Edsel reveals that Hester is a former hooker who married him only to get his stash of money. Freddy and
Jason arrive while Jesse is out of sight, and offer not to kill Larry if he tells them where Jesse is. He gives up his friend, leading to a shootout in which Edsel, Freddy and Jason are killed. Disgusted with them both, Jesse leaves Hester and Larry a bag with the money, drugs, and a gun. As he
rides away, he hears a gunshot.
For a Quentin Tarantino wannabe crime drama aimed squarely at trendy twentysomethings, BOOGIE BOY isn't bad, though it is rather desperate about trying to make that Tarantino connection. (The video box boasts that this is "From the Academy Award winning writer of PULP FICTION," though you have to
read the credits carefully to see that that line refers to Roger Avery, who is only one of this film's executive producers.) Anyone who takes this too seriously will only get annoyed at the relentless attitudinizing from characters who embody every youth cliche current at the time the film was
shot. And the script comes down unnecessarily hard on characters who are gay and female (with the exception of Joan Jett, essentially playing herself). But despite the limitations of the script and the obviousness of the direction, there are more than a few good performances in a story that at
least maintains your interest all the way through. (Violence, sexual situations, adult situations, substance abuse, profanity.)
