empire records

Tagline: Open til Midnight.

Plot summary

The events of the film take place within a single day. Empire Records, an independently owned record shop, is about to be sold to the Music Town corporation by its owner to become another run-of-the-mill chain store. Lucas (played by Rory Cochrane) attempts to save the day by taking a gamble with the store's sales proceeds, but ends up making things worse when he loses it all. Rex Manning (Maxwell Caulfield), an arrogant singer, shows up for an in-store promotional appearance that day, and a local teenager (Brendan Sexton III) attempts to steal merchandise. The employees, who see Empire as a second home and their coworkers as something of a second family, are also experiencing difficulties in their personal lives and relationships with one another. Upon learning of the store's looming fate, the employees and their boss, Joe Reaves (Anthony LaPaglia), band together to save it.

Reaction and cult status

Something of a slice-of-life teen dramedy, the film 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, 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.

Trivia

• A reference is made to the 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 on CSI: Miami, Anthony LaPaglia would star as Jack Malone in Without a Trace and Johnny Whitworth would land a guest appearance on Cold Case and then a recurring role on CSI: Miami, though he made his appearances years after Cochrane had already left the show. Debi Mazar would also guest star on CSI: Miami.
• The movie provided to be a stepping stone for two cast members. Liv Tyler went on to make her breakthrough in Bernardo Bertolucci's film Stealing Beauty in 1996 and has appeared on numerous well known movies after that, including The Lord Of The Rings trilogy. Renee Zellweger became famous for her role in Jerry Maguire and her best known roles is Bridget Jones's Diary, Cold Mountain, and Chicago.
• Tobey Maguire, who later became famous for his role in Spider-Man and its sequel, has a small part in 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 has a vertical suicide-attempt scar.
• The movie was originally filmed as two days but was cut and fit to one.
• A DVD version released in 2003 entitled "Empire Records Remix, the Fan Edition" featured a new edit of the film with scenes never seen before, along with new deleted scenes, special features, and more.
• At the time this movie was made, Coyote Shivers was married to Bebe Buell, which made him the step-father 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 was deleted from the final cut of the film.
• The movie was written by a former employee of Tower Records store #166 (Christown 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.

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 Wanna 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

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
• Kimber Sissons .... Woman at Craps Table (as Kimber Monroe)
• Tobey Maguire .... Andre (scenes deleted)