Pump Up the Volume

Directed by Allan Moyle, Pump Up the Volume follows a quiet high schooler (Christian Slater’s Mark Hunter) as spends his evenings broadcasting illegally under the name Happy Harry Hard-on. It’s compelling subject matter that’s employed to predominantly engaging (and periodically spellbinding) effect by Moyle, as the filmmaker, armed with his own screenplay, delivers a solid teen drama that benefits from its trenchant dialogue and first-class performances – with, in terms of the latter, Slater’s lived-in and completely convincing turn as the sympathetic central character anchoring the proceedings and elevating it on a recurring basis. (Samantha Mathis is equally good here as Mark’s eventual love interest, to be sure.) And while the plot’s rather conventional bent admittedly does result in a small handful of lulls (ie the picture is at its best and most compelling when focused on Mark’s anti-establishment chatter), Pump Up the Volume builds towards a satisfying third act that ensures it concludes on a positive, memorable note – which, in the final analysis, confirms the movie’s place as a better-than-average endeavor that holds up impressively well all these years later.

*** out of ****