Around the Fire

1998 "Finding a place to belong is just the beginning."
5.3| 1h47m| R| en
Details

Simon is an intelligent and privileged young man whose family expects him to become a Princeton graduate. Crying out for attention from his reserved and cool hearted family, Simon commits numerous petty crimes and is soon sent away to boarding school where he befriends a "Deadhead," adopts the "hippie" lifestyle and dabbles in many drugs in his search for acceptance.

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Reviews

Holstra Boring, long, and too preachy.
FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.
HottWwjdIam There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.
SeeQuant Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction
Comic_Book_Guy It's worth watching if you're a guy who wants to see Bunny Lebowski dressed up as a hot hippie. Otherwise, it is a very inaccurate portrayal of what life is like on tour. Despite the fact the Dead let the producers use one of the best versions of "Brown Eyed Women" available (8/27/72 I believe?), it's a thinly veiled, misinformed, anti-drug tirade that has nothing to do with how things are conducted within the hippie tour community.The story starts off with good intentions, but if the people responsible for this movie had stuck with the real story of a misfit trying to find someplace to fit in, it would have worked. Every kid whose been on tour eventually has to deal with the drug thing, but this movie gets distracted by that impasse, dragging the whole movie into a big authority power trip. Having been on tour many times, I can tell you that the experience of it could fill a movie with wonderful characters, hilarious situations and sacred moments. But someone somewhere decided that a movie like that would be celebrating a lifestyle that Big Brother does not condone.
mellowgerman Wow man! This is a great movie. Tie-dyes, drugs, free love, and great music..... what more could you ask for??? This movie is an accurate representation of the "struggle" young people could have with the act of balancing drugs and school. A small, but notable aspect of this movie is the way it depicts being high. So accurate:) It doesn't over-do it like most movies. Also, it reminds me of summers that I have with friends around the fire. good times. The other actors in the movie also do a good job. Any fan of psychedelic-era music and activities should watch this movie. It might bring back some memories, but what do i know, i wasn't around then. Regardless of what others think, i would definitely recommend this movie. I managed to pick mine up on amazon for about 4 dollars. so what do you have to lose?
devreser This movie was not done very well at all. Tara Reid and Devon Sawa are in this which is a big indication it isn't going to be a good movie. That's just my biased opinion. I'm an Eric Mabius fan and bought this movie thinking he'd be in it quite a bit. A little in the beginning, a little in the end. It was a disappointment. There are lots of points to this movie to show a downward spiral into drug abuse. Very campy film about the subject at hand. They could've done a better job. I do like Eric Mabius' character because he seemed most real, along with the character "Trace". For good films revolving around drugs, steer clear of this one. Not good at all.
jaybeezie This movie didn't get very wide distribution, but it's worth catching on HBO or on video. The story shows the inside of two different but interconnected worlds (affluence & Grateful Dead culture) without resorting to caricatures or cliches. The cast is stellar, and while the story plods at times it is overall very sensitively written. Production quality is outstanding for a low-budget flick, too.