S.F.W. (1994)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
"S.F.W." is a movie that pretends to be important, that pretends to have something to say. It does not, thereby qualifying it as a pretentiously shallow movie whose message is the title of the film. So Freaking What?
I would love to end the review there but why should I? This generic Generation-X wannabe focuses on the most insidiously moronic and foolishly empty-headed hooligan in many moons. His name is Cliff Spab (Stephen Dorff) and he is something of a cultural hero. He has killed some terrorists in a convenience store where he and a teenage girl named Wendy (Reese Witherspoon) have been held hostage. Cliff's best friend was killed by these masked terrorists, dressed in white, who videotape the entire 36 day ordeal. When Cliff and Wendy escape, they are branded heroes, particularly after the video footage is aired in every news channel. Why is Cliff so popular? Because he repeats the titled catchphrase that becomes some sort of mantra. Wow. And why is Wendy always giving interviews? Because she knew Cliff and might have fallen for him. Intriguing, for the moment.
I wish I could say there was more to "S.F.W." but that is basically it. The movie has no level of satire whatsoever since it has prime targets that deserve skewering, like the media's relentless coverage of the hostage situation or the public's adoration of this new alleged culture hero. It doesn't contain any level of human interest in Cliff Spab - he is an uncultured idiot who mostly drinks beer, has sex, watches TV, and loves to trash his bedroom. How punk! Dorff tries to give the character some dimension, especially when he stares at a TV screen and sees the violence shown from the videotaped hostage events. It looks like it may traumatize him but Dorff and director and co-writer Jefery Levy indulge in a vacuum of nothingness. They assume that the catchphrase is the movie. Yes, indeed, and so f'ing what!
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