Groove

Editor Greg Harrison's directorial debut is an economically paced examination of the "rave" scene. It features a terrific ensemble cast, but at heart, the film is an old-fashioned boy-meets-girl romance. The setting is an abandoned building on a San Francisco pier. That's where the squarish David (Linklater) is attending his first rave. Leyla (Glaudini) has perhaps been to too many. Over the course of the night they and the other rave kids go through a series of changes fueled by drugs, emotion, and sexual indecision. In another time, the same story with more limited sexual roles and consciousness-altering substances could have been told about a homecoming dance or spring break. The changes and discoveries the characters make have not changed. Even though the film was made on a restricted budget--actually shot in Super 16mm.--it looks very good.