''Sunset Strip'' is a 2000 American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film directed by

Adam Collis Adam Collis is an American filmmaker and actor. He attended the Duke University from 1986 to 1990 and the University of California, Los Angeles from 2007 to 2010. He also studied cinema at the University of Southern California from 1991 to 1997. ...

for

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

. The story was written by Randall Jahnson, who previously examined the rock scene in his scripts for ''

The Doors The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...

'' and '' Dudes'', and he and Russell DeGrazier adapted the story into a screenplay. The film takes place in 1972, during one 24-hour period on

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

's famed

Sunset Strip The Sunset Strip is the stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through the city of West Hollywood, California. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with the city of Los Angeles near Marmont Lane to its western border with Beverly H ...

, where the lives of a group of young people are about to change forever.

Anna Friel Anna Louise Friel (born 12 July 1976) is an English actress. Born in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, she has been acting professionally since age 13. Friel achieved fame with her portrayal of Beth Jordache on the British soap opera ''Brookside'' ( ...

stars as Tammy Franklin, a clothing designer, and

Nick Stahl Nicolas Kent Stahl (born December 5, 1979) is an American actor. Starting out as a child actor, he gained recognition for his performance in the 1993 film ''The Man Without a Face'', co-starring Mel Gibson. He later transitioned into his adult ...

plays Zach, a novice guitarist;

Jared Leto Jared Joseph Leto ( ; born December 26, 1971) is an American actor and musician. Known for his method acting in a variety of roles, he has received numerous accolades over a career spanning three decades, including an Academy Award and a Golde ...

stars as Glen Walker, an up-and-coming country rocker.

Simon Baker Simon Lucas Baker (born 30 July 1969) is an Australian actor in television and film, as well as a director. He is known for his lead roles in the CBS television series ''The Mentalist'' as Patrick Jane and ''The Guardian'' as Nicholas Fallin a ...

Adam Goldberg Adam Charles Goldberg (born October 25, 1970) is an American character actor, filmmaker, musician, and photographer. Known for his supporting roles in film and television, Goldberg has appeared in films such as '' Dazed and Confused'', ''Saving ...

Rory Cochrane Rory Cochrane (born February 28, 1972) is an American actor. He is known for playing Ron Slater in '' Dazed and Confused'', Lucas in ''Empire Records'', Lee Schatz in ''Argo'', Freck in '' A Scanner Darkly'', and Tim Speedle in ''CSI: Miami''. ...

and

Tommy Flanagan Thomas Lee Flanagan (March 16, 1930 – November 16, 2001) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He grew up in Detroit, initially influenced by such pianists as Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson, and Nat King Cole, and then by bebop musicians. ...

also feature. The film began shooting on November 9, 1998, and ended on January 11, 1999.

Plot

''Sunset Strip'' tells the story of a number of music industry artists, all in the span of 24 hours on the

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

. Michael secretly pines for Tammy. She is busy sleeping with the up-and-coming country rocker Glen Walker and the rock star Duncan. Zach and his band are opening at the

Whisky a Go Go The Whisky a Go Go (informally nicknamed "the Whisky") is a historic nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip, corner North Clark Street, opposite North San Vicente Boul ...

for Duncan Reed and the Curb. In these 24 hours, they all cross paths pursue their dreams.

Cast

as Tammy Franklin, a costume designer with a shop situated near the legendary

, who has sex with Walker and Reid *

as Glen Walker, a country rocker *

as Duncan Reid, a rock star who is influenced by

Jim Morrison James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, poet and songwriter who was the lead vocalist of the Rock music, rock band the Doors. Due to his wild personality, poetic lyrics, distinctive voice, unpredicta ...

and

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

as Marty Shapiro, a fast-talking record producer from the Valley *

as Zach, a novice guitarist who believes that he is the successor of

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

as Felix, a troubled songwriter whose dream is to die of a drug and alcohol overdose *

as Michael Scott, a photographer who photographs Tammy Franklin and the musicians *

Darren E. Burrows Darren E. Burrows (born September 12, 1966) is an American actor and director. He is best known for playing Ed Chigliak in the television series '' Northern Exposure''. He also appeared in ''Cry-Baby'', '' Amistad'', '' Sunset Strip'', '' Forty ...

as Bobby * John Randolph as Mr. Niederhaus *

Stephanie Romanov Stephanie A. Romanov (born January 24, 1969) is an American model and actress, best known for playing Lilah Morgan on ''Angel (1999 TV series), Angel''. Life and career Romanov was born in Las Vegas, Nevada. She first began modeling in Europe a ...

as Christine *

Mary Lynn Rajskub Mary Lynn Rajskub (; born June 22, 1971) is an American actress and comedian who is best known for portraying Chloe O'Brian in the action thriller series '' 24'', and the character Gail the Snail in ''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia''. Rajskub ...

as Eileen * Maurice Chasse as Nigel * Mike Rad as Badger *

Josh Richman Josh Eric Richman (born May 21, 1965) is an American actor, writer, producer, and director. He is best known for his work with Guns N' Roses. Career His first acting job was a minor role in the science fiction television show '' V: The Ser ...

as Barry Bernstein

Music

Stewart Copeland Stewart Armstrong Copeland (born July 16, 1952) is a Scottish-American musician and composer. He is best known for his work as the drummer of the English rock band the Police from 1977 to 1986, and again from 2007 to 2008. Before playing with th ...

was approached by director Adam Collis to assemble the score for the film. Copeland recorded a slew of vintage songs. The music, some scored by Stewart Copeland, some written and selected by

Robbie Robertson Jaime Royal "Robbie" Robertson, OC (born July 5, 1943), is a Canadian musician. He is best known for his work as lead guitarist and songwriter for the Band, and for his career as a solo recording artist. With the deaths of Richard Manuel in ...

, is made in a bygone style that sometimes consciously mimics the multicharacter 1970s dramas.

Release and reception

On August 18, 2000, ''Sunset Strip'' opened to the public in

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

in a single theater in

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, and grossed $3,926 during the opening weekend. After two months, on October 12, 2000, the film was screened at the

Austin Film Festival Austin Film Festival (AFF), founded in 1994, is an organization in Austin, Texas, that focuses on writers’ creative contributions to film. Initially, AFF was called the Austin Heart of Film Screenwriters Conference and functioned to launch the ...

. Writing in ''

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), ...

'', Robert Koehler said "Interesting structure provides pic with plenty of opportunities for social satire, human comedy and chance encounters, but few setups are ever dramatically fulfilled." Kevin Thomas in ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' said "Moves smoothly amid a near-perfect period evocation, captured in an array of shifting moods." Writing in

Mr. Showbiz ''Mister'', usually written in its contracted form ''Mr.'' or ''Mr'', is a commonly used English honorific for men without a higher honorific, or professional title, or any of various designations of office. The title 'Mr' derived from earlier ...

Kevin Maynard Kevin R. Maynard is a television writer. He has written for the Showtime (TV network), Showtime series ''Dexter (TV series), Dexter''. Maynard was nominated for a Writers Guild of America Awards, Writers Guild of America Award for best dramatic seri ...

praised the film, saying that it "has its funky charms." Cheryl DeWolfe of the Apollo Movie Guide said "This modestly successful drama follows a young ensemble cast through the ups and downs of the music business in all its stages of stardom." ''Sunset Strip'' was released on VHS on February 13, 2001, and was re-released on September 4, 2001. On June 1, 2004,

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment (commonly referred to as 20th Home Video, or 20th Home Entertainment, formerly known as 20th Century-Fox Video, CBS/Fox Video, Fox Video, and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment) is a home video label of Wa ...

released a DVD for region 1. The DVD release includes a wide-screen and a full-screen version of the film.

References

External links

* * * {{Rotten Tomatoes, 1099600_sunset_strip 2000 films 20th Century Fox films 2000s musical comedy-drama films American musical comedy-drama films American rock music films Films about drugs Films about alcoholism Films directed by Adam Collis Films produced by Art Linson Films scored by Stewart Copeland Films set in 1972 Films set in Los Angeles 2000 directorial debut films 2000 comedy films 2000 drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films