Permanent Record

Paramount. Director Marisa Silver; Producer Frank Mancuso Jr; Screenplay Jarre Fees, Alice Liddle, Larry Ketron; Camera Frederick Elmes; Editor Robert Brown; Music Joe Strummer; Art Director Michel Levesque

Alan Boyce
Keanu Reeves
Michelle Meyrink
Jennifer Rubin
Pamela Gidley
Lou Reed

A look at how a bunch of high schoolers try to deal with the suicide of their class' most promisng member, pic is populated by profoundly unrewarding characters doing and saying utterly uninteresting things.

The only potentially distinguished one of the lot is David (Alan Boyce), who is the best-looking, smartest and possibly a talented composer. At the same time, David is prone to inexplicable bouts of doubt, anguish and indecision, until he finally just plunges off a cliff into the sea.

Shocking event forces everyone to face their own insecurity and vulnerability, but it is especially painful to Chris, David's best friend, who looked up to him as a shining example for his own comparatively aimless, irresponsible life.

Chris' gradual coming to grips with his sense of self gives the film its only point of interest, largely due to Keanu Reeves' performance, which opens up nicely as the drama progresses. Boyce is appealing enough as the doomed bright boy, and Richard Bradford contributes a highly sympathetic turn as the school principal. All the girls are vapid dips.

(Color) Available on VHS, DVD. Extract of a review from 1988. Running time: 91 MIN.