Nowhere (1997)

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Directed by Gregg Araki.

Starring Debi Mazar, Guillermo Diaz, James Duval, Chiara Mastroianni, Rachel True, Nathan Bexton, Jeremy Jordan.

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Described by director Gregg Araki as "A Beverly Hills 90210 episode on acid" (with no suggestions of what it might be cut with), Nowhere is a companion piece with Araki's previous meditations on youth gone wild in the 1990s, Totally F***ed Up and The Doom Generation -- Araki's self-described "teen apocalypse trilogy." Nowhere follows 18-year-old Dark Smith (James Duval) as he goes through a fairly typical day in Los Angeles. Dark needs, but rarely gets, emotional support from his girlfriend Mel (Rachel True). Mel, however, is also involved with a girl named Lucifer (Kathleen Robertson), while Dark moons over hunky Montgomery (Nathan Bexton). Dark's best friend Cowboy (Guillermo Diaz) has troubles of his own, as his boyfriend and bandmate Bart (Jeremy Jordan) is back on drugs and spending most of his time with his dealer. Mel's friends include sugar junkie Dingbat (Christina Applegate), doomsday poetess Alyssa (Jordan Ladd), and Egg (Sarah Lassez), who is being unexpectedly wooed by a Famous Teen Idol (Jason Simmons). Egg's brother Ducky (Scott Caan) has a crush on Alyssa, but she's keeping company with a biker named Elvis (Thyme Lewis). Alyssa's assignation with Elvis gets a psychic boost by her twin brother Shad (Ryan Phillippe) and his tryst with Lilith (Heather Graham). The day continues on a roller coaster of kinky sex, hallucinogenic drugs, random violence, romantic misunderstandings, alien abductions, and (of course) a wild party, this time at the home of noted hipster Jujyfruit (Gibby Haynes). Like The Doom Generation, Nowhere features a wealth of pop culture icons in cameo appearances, including John Ritter, Traci Lords, Charlotte Rae, Eve Plumb, and Shannen Doherty. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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Reviews and discussions

Queer Musicians + Film = ?
by unemployedwaif in Queer Cinema

loved it.

"The addition of our talented new member nathan503 got me to thinking about representations of queer musicians and how they are portrayed and/or their music is used in film.For me, at least what is coming to mind at this moment, are the glam rockers; specifically Todd Haynes' Velvet Goldmine and John Cameron Mitchell's Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Both films are written and directed by gay men about queer musicians and miraculously succeed at telling poignant, engaging stories that don't fall victim to the abundance of stereotypical cliches that so many others do.Within recent years, a number of films have begun to delve into the lives of rather famous musicians of the past whose queer sensibilities have only recently come to light. Irwin Winkler's De-Lovely which chronicles the life of Cole Porter, and Atom Egoyan's Where The Truth Lies. Unfortunately, due to the (homophobic) powers that be, the films tended to skim the surface of this aspect of their lives and ul ... " [More]

Re: most overrated gay movie
by lukasblu in Queer Cinema

liked it.

"gregg araki films i've seen and liked The Doom Generation, and Mysterious Skin;i am also af fan of james duval and rose mcgowan from doom generation;And i like joseph gordon lewitt from mysterious skinIn the ending of doom generation;i saw amy being tortured and it looked like xavier was dead or dying;I do not understand how both xavier and amy survived without a scratch or the fact that they survived at all;Only jordan did not make it and die??Can you explain to me that ending on your viewpoint?I watched this movie with my nephew and a friend and we were all perplexed with the endingI use to think that james duval was related to robert duvall but they have no blood relations whatsoever;the spellings of their last name is different;james last name has one L and roberts has two L's;And i always thought that james was much younger in age(because of the roles he plays and the way he looks):He's actually 34:this are just trivial things i found out about james recently; Anyway that must ... " [More]

Re: most overrated gay movie
by unemployedwaif in Queer Cinema

loved it.

"Gregg Araki is a personal favorite of mine. I own The Living End, Totally F***ed Up, The Doom Generation, Nowhere, and Splendor. I haven't been able to see two of his earlier films; I can't wait until Smiley Face is finally given a theatrical release. And I'm normally not a fan of celebrity culture but I did get a little giddy when I managed to get tickets to the AFI premiere of Mysterious Skin at the Arclight Theater in Los Angeles. The film was great but the best part was after the film when exiting the theater I brushed shoulders with James Duval and nearly had a heart attack. I recommend all of his films whenever someone asks, but most people get turned off by his style of filmmaking and subject matter which tends to be "in-your-face" than most. Mysterious Skin and Splendor seem to be his most approachable (or "Hollywood") films, but I tend to push people towards seeing Nowhere or The Living End. " [More]

Re: most overrated gay movie
by unemployedwaif in Queer Cinema

loved it.

"Recent releases that I have enjoyed: - Evening, which doesn't exactly center around gay characters but is loaded with queer themes (thanks to co-screenwriter Michael Cunningham). - Shortbus, highly entertaining and arousing film about sex in all its various forms. Extremely explicit yet remains focused on the story. - 20 Centimeters, while not technically a new release, however it is still in the new release section of my local Blockbuster Video so I guess it counts for me. Great dramatic musical from Spain. I guess it's being toted as the Spanish version of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which is a fair statement. - Another Gay Movie, yet again, not too recent but close enough, this campy gross out comedy is in the same mind-set as American Pie and other teen sex comedies, but with a gay cast. If you take it for what it is and not too seriously, it is highly enjoyable.My favorite queer films . . . that's hard. - Nowhere, help start the New Queer CInema Movement and greatly affected me ... " [More]

Review by All Movie Guide

All Movie Guide

lost interest.

The content, tone, and overall worth of 1997's Nowhere -- the glossiest and final installment in director Gregg Araki's "teen apocalypse trilogy" -- falls somewhere between the lurid existential thrills of 1995's Doom Generation and the self-indulgent neo-documentary soap opera of 1993's Totally F***ed Up. The world of Nowhere is as day-glo brilliant as that of Doom Generation, but it's also typically squalid and painful underneath the neon. Casual viewers will enjoy the numerous starlets and icons who populate Araki's L.A., from Ryan Phillippe, Christina Applegate, and Mena Suvari to a bevy of sitcom survivors, hipster footnotes, and former porn stars. But for those who take Araki seriously in spite of, or because of, his postmodern gamesmanship, Nowhere is closer in emotional weight to David Lynch's Lost Highway than to an Aaron Spelling soap or a Hollywood teen sex comedy. As in his earlier films, Araki infests his characters with vacuous youthfulness and glamorous angst, then does terrible things to them once he's convinced viewers to somehow care. The cast this time is so cluttered, however, that it's up to a few performers with emotional depth, such as Guillermo Diaz and Sarah Lassez, to lend gravity to the proceedings. Nowhere is the first installment in the trilogy in which the character played by Araki's muse, James Duval, doesn't suffer a pointless and hideous death, but that doesn't mean the director doesn't masochistically torture his spiritual stand-in. The terrific love quadrangle between the characters played by the bewildered Duval, the wickedly right-on Rachel True, the soulfully stammering Nathan Bexton, and the deliciously tart Kathleen Robertson is a perfect snapshot of Araki's polymorphously perverse, pervasively nihilistic worldview. And when Duval ends up alone at the film's end, covered for once in somebody else's blood, adherents of Araki's attention-deficit philosophizing will find the scene as devastating as any straightforward tragedy. ~ Brian J. Dillard, All Movie Guide

Tags: sex , la , apocalyptic , lucifer , shoegaze
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