Around the Fire
The deeply resonant story of a boy named Simon Harris (DEVON SAWA) who, despite being raised in an upper-class Manhattan household with all its privileges---and restrictions---is haunted by the mysterious circumstances surrounding his mother's death. In Simon's eyes, his high-powered businessman father Matt (BILL SMITROVICH) wasted no time in marrying his stepmother Lauren (LISA BURGETT), 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 (ERIC MABIUS), the resident stoner, 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 music festivals. Simon does not fit in at his boarding school but 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 (TARA REID), a beautiful young hippie to whom he is immediately attracted; Trace (COLMAN DOMINGO), a hipster on the road less traveled who immediately bonds with him; and Kevin (HENRI LUBATTI), a champion of the "seize the day" ethic---who is dying of AIDS. He lives in a van, following a band called "Uncle Pants and the Slow Drain" on tour for a while after he graduates. As Simon delves deeper into this new-found free-spirited lifestyle, he faces 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 including taking too much LSD at a concert and freaking out. He then gets arrested, which land him in a strict drug rehab program run by a street-smart, yet caring woman named Kate (CHARLAYNE WOODARD). 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. Simon is able to reconcile with his dad.
- 1998
- 1 Hr 46 Mins
- Drama
- R
The deeply resonant story of a boy named Simon Harris (DEVON SAWA) who, despite being raised in an upper-class Manhattan household with all its privileges---and restrictions---is haunted by the mysterious circumstances surrounding his mother's death. In Simon's eyes, his high-powered businessman father Matt (BILL SMITROVICH) wasted no time in marrying his stepmother Lauren (LISA BURGETT), 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 (ERIC MABIUS), the resident stoner, 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 music festivals. Simon does not fit in at his boarding school but 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 (TARA REID), a beautiful young hippie to whom he is immediately attracted; Trace (COLMAN DOMINGO), a hipster on the road less traveled who immediately bonds with him; and Kevin (HENRI LUBATTI), a champion of the "seize the day" ethic---who is dying of AIDS. He lives in a van, following a band called "Uncle Pants and the Slow Drain" on tour for a while after he graduates. As Simon delves deeper into this new-found free-spirited lifestyle, he faces 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 including taking too much LSD at a concert and freaking out. He then gets arrested, which land him in a strict drug rehab program run by a street-smart, yet caring woman named Kate (CHARLAYNE WOODARD). 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. Simon is able to reconcile with his dad.
