Retrospective: S.F.W. (1994)

[Jerry Saravia]

S.F.W. (1994)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
RATING: Zero stars

"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 terrorists who are masked, dressed in
white, and 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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