Empire Records

Infobox_Film
name = Empire Records


caption = "Empire Records" DVD cover
director = Allan Moyle
writer = Carol Heikkinen
starring = Anthony LaPaglia
Maxwell Caulfield
Debi Mazar
Johnny Whitworth
Liv Tyler
Renée Zellweger
Rory Cochrane
Robin Tunney
Ethan Embry
producer = Tony Ludwig, Arnon Milchan, Michael G. Nathanson, Alan Riche
distributor = Warner Bros. Pictures
released = September 22, 1995 (limited)
runtime = 90 min. (original)107 min (2003 edition)
language = English
budget = N/A
amg_id = 1:135828
imdb_id = 0112950

"Empire Records" is a 1995 comedy-drama about a group of record store employees. The film was directed by Allan Moyle and stars Anthony LaPaglia, Liv Tyler, Renée Zellweger, and Rory Cochrane.

Plot summary

Empire Records is a small record shop managed by the cynical Joe (Anthony LaPaglia). His workers are local teenagers who are dramatically different, but all share the love of their job. One night, Joe selects Lucas (Rory Cochrane), a prophesizing young employee, to close down the store unsupervised. Lucas discovers that Empire Records is on the brink of being converted to a franchise called Music Town. In a valiant attempt to save the store, Lucas takes the day's cash receipts from Joe's office to Atlantic City, where he promptly loses it all.

The following morning, the young employees arrive for work. A washed-up pop star named Rex Manning (Maxwell Caulfield) is due to arrive to sign autographs, and no one is looking forward to it except Corey (Liv Tyler), a beautiful cashier who is obsessed with Rex and is planning to lose her virginity to him. When good-natured stoner Mark (Ethan Embry) and drop-dead gorgeous artist AJ (Johnny Whitworth) show up at the store, they discover what Lucas has done, and decide not to tell Joe.

When Joe arrives, already in a bad mood because of "Rex Manning Day," he finds the money gone. He begins to panic because he must pay his own money (which he'd been saving to buy Empire Records and avert the franchise conversion) to the priggish store owner Mitchell Beck (Ben Bode) to cover the loss, money that.

Corey and her friend Gina (Renee Zellweger) arrive at work. While Joe runs around trying to find (and "kill") Lucas, AJ decides that today is the day he will confess his love for Corey. Joe finally finds Lucas, and forbids him to leave the store until he is able to repay the $9,000 he lost.

As the store is opened, another employee, Deb (Robin Tunney), arrives. She is rude to her fellow workers and locks herself in the bathroom, where she shaves her head. As she exits the bathroom, AJ sees that she has a bandage on her wrist and she dryly admits that she attempted suicide. AJ is worried, but allows Deb to go to work. The infamous Rex Manning finally arrives with his assistant Jane (Debi Mazar). Rex is snotty and self-centered, and treats his fans with indifference. One male Rex Manning fan nearly faints when he appears, providing one of the film's biggest laughs.

Corey, however, is still determined to sleep with him, and attempts to seduce him during his lunch break. Rex, who has no interest in her, deliberately scares her off. An ashamed Coery ends up on the roof of the store, where a lovesick AJ attempts to tell her how he feels. Corey is overwhelmed and tells him that she only sees him as a friend, and AJ leaves angrily. Meanwhile, a bratty teen (Brendan Sexton III) attempts to shoplift some CDs but is apprehended by Lucas.

He indentifies himself sarcastically as Warren Beatty, and is eventually escorted out by the police.As the day progresses, tensions are wearing high, and Joe is desperately trying to find enough money to pay Mitchell Beck by the end of the day. He eventually gives Mitchell an empty money bag, which buys him some more time. Gina, after an argument with Corey, successfully seduces Rex Manning, much to the horror of her friends. When Corey insults her and calls her a slut, Gina reveals that Corey is not as perfect as she seems, as she is constantly taking speed.

Corey throws a fit, and it is Deb, surprisingly, who is able to calm her down. The two former enemies become friends.Rex Manning finally leaves and Corey, after hearing about Deb's suicide attempt, arranges a "funeral" for her where all her friends gather around and say things that they love about her. At the end of the day, "Warren Beatty" returns with a gun (loaded only with blanks) and begins firing off shots in the store. He stops after Joe offers him a job.Running out of time, the employees of Empire Records try to think of a way to raise enough money to save the store.

Mark comes up with the idea of a rave concert, and all the staff members pitch in. Deb's boyfriend Berko (Coyote Shivers) plays with his band on the roof while Gina sings. By a miracle, enough money is made to save the store.Afterwards, on the roof, Corey tells AJ that she really does love him. Jane, who has quit her job as Rex Manning's assistant, has become Joe's new girlfriend. The cast is dancing around on the roof as the credits begin to roll.

Reaction and cult status

This teen comedy-drama did poorly at the box office and received generally poor reviews, but attracted and has maintained a devoted cult following since its release, mainly among young adults who first saw the film as adolescents. Numerous web shrines have been created in the film's honor,Fact|date=July 2008 and a special edit was released on DVD in 2003, after many years of petitioning from fans wanting the deleted scenes to be made available.Fact|date=July 2008

Trivia

* A reference is made to rock band The Who when Rex tells the kids to fade away. (In the 2003 edition this line is not used. It is replaced with alternate take featuring a more reflective Rex Manning stating "You know what, maybe you're right.")
* Many of the stars would later go on to appear in Jerry Bruckheimer's CBS crime dramas. Rory Cochrane would star as Tim Speedle in ', Anthony LaPaglia would star as Jack Malone in "Without a Trace" and Johnny Whitworth would land a guest appearance on "Cold Case" and "Without a Trace" and then a recurring role on ', though he made his appearances years after Cochrane had already left the show. Debi Mazar would also guest star on "".
* Brendan Sexton III's character sarcastically says his name is Warren Beatty (the other characters (sarcastically) believe him).
* Tobey Maguire, who later became famous for his role in "Spider-Man" and its sequels, had a small part in the movie. Maguire requested director Allan Moyle release him from his part in the movie due to health reasons. Moyle agreed, and all of Tobey's scenes were deleted from the final film. [http://www.askmen.com/men/entertainment_150/150c_tobey_maguire.html Men of the Week in Enterainment] ; retrieved [May 14] , [2007] .] His name is still in the final credits at the end of the movie.
* A sign by the register that says "Have a nice daze" shows the logo for "Dazed and Confused" (1993). Rory Cochrane, who plays Lucas, played Slater in "Dazed and Confused".
* Robin Tunney's character has a horizontal suicide-attempt scar on her wrist. In "The Craft", her character bears vertical suicide-attempt scars.
* The movie was originally filmed as two days but was cut and fit to one. This is most obvious in the apparent breakneck speed at which Jane (Rex Manning's assistant) decides to quit her job and stay in town as Joe's new girlfriend. Some of the material that didn't make it to the one-day cut is included in the "Empire Records Remix, the Fan Edition" DVD.
* At the time this movie was made, Coyote Shivers was married to Bebe Buell, which made him the stepfather of co-star Liv Tyler.
* Warren, played by Brendan Sexton III, was supposed to have a sister, but like Tobey Maguire, her scenes (and ultimately her character) were deleted from the final cut of the film.
* The movie was written by a former employee of Tower Records store #166 (Christown Spectrum Mall) in Phoenix, Arizona. When the film was released and for a long time afterward, a number of her former coworkers still working cited anecdotes and other elements of the film that related to the store. This store closed in early 2005, ten years after the film's release
* The movie was filmed in New Jersey and North Carolina.Fact|date=August 2008

Original soundtrack

# "Till I Hear It From You" by Gin Blossoms
# "Liar" by The Cranberries
# "A Girl Like You" by Edwyn Collins
# "Free" by The Martinis
# "Crazy Life" by Toad the Wet Sprocket
# "Bright As Yellow" by The Innocence Mission
# "Circle of Friends" by Better Than Ezra
# "I Don't Want to Live Today" by Ape Hangers
# "Whole Lotta Trouble" by Cracker
# "Ready, Steady, Go" by The Meices
# "What You Are" by Drill
# "Nice Overalls" by Lustre
# "Here It Comes Again" by Please
# "The Ballad of El Goodo" by Evan Dando
# "Sugarhigh" by Coyote Shivers

The version of the song "Sugarhigh" that appears in the movie differs significantly from the one included on the soundtrack. The main differences are that the movie version has additional lyrics and chorus vocals provided by Renée Zellweger and it is musically one semitone lower than the cd version .

Main cast

* Anthony LaPaglia.... Joe Reaves
* Maxwell Caulfield.... Rex Manning
* Debi Mazar.... Jane
* Rory Cochrane.... Lucas
* Johnny Whitworth.... A.J.
* Robin Tunney.... Debra
* Renée Zellweger.... Gina
* Ethan Embry.... Mark (as Ethan Randall)
* Coyote Shivers.... Berko
* Brendan Sexton III.... Warren (as Brendan Sexton)
* Liv Tyler.... Corey Mason
* James 'Kimo' Wills.... Eddie
* Ben Bode.... Mitchell Beck
* Gary Bolen.... Croupier
* Craig Edwards.... Male Rex Manning Fan
* Kimber Sissons.... Woman at Craps Table (as Kimber Monroe)
* Tobey Maguire.... Andre (scenes deleted)

References

External links

*
*
*
*