Pups is a 1999 American independent
crime drama
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...
film written and directed by
Ash, and starring
Mischa Barton,
Burt Reynolds and
Cameron Van Hoy. The film centers on two young adolescents who embark on a bank robbery on their way to school. It premiered at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival on April 18, 1999. Although well received critically, the film saw a limited release, which has been attributed to sensitivity surrounding the
Columbine High School massacre that occurred two days after the premiere.
[Pups]
Entertainment Weekly. 3 March 2000
Plot
Stevie (Van Hoy) finds a gun in his mother's closet, and on his way to school with his girlfriend, Rocky (Barton), decides to use the gun to rob a bank. The police come and surround the building. One FBI agent, Daniel Bender (Reynolds), tries to free the hostages. Initially he is calm and cooperative, giving food,
condoms
A condom is a sheath-shaped barrier device used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy or a sexually transmitted infection (STI). There are both male and female condoms. With proper useāand use at every act of inte ...
,
beer
Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
and an
MTV reporter by request.
As the situation furthers, Bender gets frustrated. After several failed attempts at impossible requests, Stevie decides to surrender. Rocky and he leave the guns, money, and hostages in the bank. As the two walk away, Stevie reaches for a flower in his pocket, and a sniper shoots him dead. Bender asks to get that "mother fucker down from that roof".
Cast
*
Mischa Barton as Rocky
*
Burt Reynolds as Daniel Bender
*
Cameron Van Hoy as Stevie
*
Ed Metzger
Edward Metzger (born January 23, 1936) is an American actor and writer.
Metzger is known for portrayals of famous men in history. He has portrayed Albert Einstein live on stage for over 30 years in his one-man show, '' Albert Einstein: The Practic ...
as Mr. Edwards
*
Kurt Loder
Kurtis Loder (born May 5, 1945) is an American entertainment critic, author, columnist, and television personality. He served in the 1980s as editor at ''Rolling Stone'', during a tenure that ''Reason'' later called "legendary". He has contribute ...
as Himself
*David Alan Graf as Bank Manager
*Darling Narita as Joy
*Susan Horton as Rio
*James Gordon J.P./TV Preacher
*Jonathan Coogan as Bank Security Guard
*Matthew Fairchild as Rocky's Dad
*Adam Farrar as War Vet paraplegic
Production
The film is set in an unnamed American suburb and was shot in
Chatsworth, Los Angeles
Chatsworth is a suburban neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles, California, in the San Fernando Valley.
The area was home to Native Americans, some of whom left caves containing rock art. Chatsworth was explored and colonized by the Spanish be ...
. It was financed by Japan-based Team Okuyama in October 1998, with the condition that filming would be complete by December of the same year.
[ The film was shot in two weeks in December 1998.][ The director, Ash noted that the film was timely within the context of real-life crimes during this period, alluding to the Jonesboro shootings; "The film was a reflection of what was going on in Jonesboro and around the world,". As well as the controversy of the Columbine killings, the release of the film was complicated by the arrest of one of its co-stars, Adam Farrar. Farrar had been arrested in March 1999 on suspicion of attempted murder and making terrorist threats against his girlfriend.
]
Critical reception
The film was well received by critics; it currently holds a 90% 'fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
. Robert Koehler of ''Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' praised the execution of the film "Applying all the assets of seat-of-your-pants indie filmmaking with few of its deficits, Ash has delivered a sinewy, disturbing sophomore work... ''Pups'' gives off the energy of a movie shot on the run with few of the rough edges that typically dog such rapid-fire filmmaking." Koehler continued to single out the picture as a "perceptive spin on the teen pic". Koehler also praised the casting "Van Hoy leads the way, with a startling, haunting film debut that matches pic's sense of impulse, rage and humanism. Barton quietly suggests a smart girl who knows she's in trouble but might find a way out. Besieged on all sides, Reynolds works against his character's cliches and indicates that ''Boogie Nights'' was no fluke."[Pups]
Variety. 26 April 1999
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...
gave the film three out of four stars, congratulating Van Hoy and Barton for "two of the most natural and freed performances I have seen by actors of any age...Often Van Hoy and Barton waltz through long takes, working without the net of editing...So much depends on the performances. If instead of Van Hoy and Barton the movie had starred safer or more circumspect actors, the energy would have flagged and the flaws of the quick production would have been more of a problem."[Pups]
Chicago Sun-Times. 10 December 2000
Lawrence Van Gelder of the ''New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' described the protagonists, Stevie and Rocky as "Bonnie and Clyde for the MTV generation." He praised Ash for "taking a knowing look at adolescents informed but not educated by television and movies in a less than perfect United States." Van Gelder also praised Van Hoy for his portrayal of "a volatile, fast-talking compendium of pop culture, childish rage, adolescent mischief and adult stupidity and remorse." And Barton also, "in a layered performance, combines loyal girlfriend and voice of reason with deep cynicism toward the world she was born into and now is shaping."FILM REVIEW; They've Got Hostages, and They Want Their MTV
New York Times. 14 February 2000
''Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...
'' gave the film a "B+", praising Ash as "a genuine provocateur-filmmaker." The review also congratulated the "energized performance" of Reynolds and Van Hoy, who "is amazing, like a Game Boy junkie-turned-virtual Jimmy Cagney." The reviewer also speculated that the film could have been a sensation at Sundance had it not been for the recent Columbine tragedy.[
]
Awards and honours
References
External links
*
*{{rotten-tomatoes, id=pups, title=Pups
1999 films
1999 independent films
American independent films
1999 crime drama films
Films shot in Los Angeles
Films about hostage takings
American crime drama films
Films scored by Erran Baron Cohen
1990s English-language films
1990s American films