Empire Records Rocks!

Rating: 8/10 (20 March 2011)

Empire Records is one of my all time favorite films. I watched it as a young teenager and I related to it quite a bit. There were some pretty funny comedic moments in the film and the music of the soundtrack gave a unique vibe to the movie. The best part about this film is that I am still able to watch it as an adult and I still enjoy the film as well as the music.
The theme of Empire Records is the struggle of man against the greed of the corporate machine. Empire Records is an independent music store that is very lax with its employees, offers many different genres of music, and in general offers a very artistic environment for its customers. The owners of Empire wish to sell out and make Empire into a chain store. Joe, played by Anthony Lapaglia, is the store manager who takes an employee named Lucas, played by Rory Cochrane, under his wing. Together with the other misfits that work at Empire, they try to figure out a plan to save Empire from turning into a dreaded Music Town while dealing with their own personal problems on one very eventful day at the store.
Other important issues that are addressed in this film include depression, Debra (played by Robin Tunney) cuts all of her hair off and tries to slit her wrist, drug addiction, Corey (played by Liv Tyler) is the perfect student who occasionally takes speed to help her stay awake to study, and risky sexual behavior, Gina (played by Renee Zellweger) thinks she will feel better about herself and find love by sleeping around.
Two techniques used in this movie to demonstrate the theme were sound and lighting. The soundtrack of the film is very diverse and alternative which can be compared to the environment of Empire Records. Empire is not your typical music store and the music they play there is not always the most well known. The lighting of Empire can be considered dim and a little hazy at times, which compared to the harsh fluorescent lighting found at a chain store, gives Empire Records an even more unique feel.
Another film that can be compared to Empire Records based on a similar theme is Office Space. In Office Space the employees (all from different walks of life) of a company are also trying to fight the corporate greed of their boss. Office Space is another one of my favorite movies. I think the reason I relate to these movies so much is because all of these employees band together to do something I probably never could, fight the greed of the corporate machine.