38. Pump Up the Volume

Adolescence is a time of rebelliousness against adult authority figures, to be sure. It is a time to stand up for one’s own beliefs, one’s own ideals. Separating what you believe from what the adults tell you is vital. Adolescence is the moment to figure out who you really are, then stand on the rooftops declaring it. If you don’t have access to a rooftop, a pirate radio station will suffice, as Christian Slater found out in Allan Moyle’s superb teen drama Pump Up the Volume. Slater plays a loner who uses his pirate set-up to rail anonymously about all the things that annoy him (which is pretty much everything). Before he knows it, the entire school is listening. To his peers -- including Samantha Mathis as the impossibly cute girl that every boy in his right mind would want -- he’s a hero. To the faculty and administration, he’s a threat.

What begins as a hobby turns into a fight for free speech. The tagline for Pump Up the Volume was “Talk Hard. Steal the Air.” What a perfect sentiment for a movie that encourages viewers to affect change by daring to speak out. Moyle has crafted a great big primal scream of a film; it makes you want to rail against the nearest injustice. Christian Slater is nothing short of magnetic as the kid who ultimately steps out from behind the microphone to publicly stand up for what he thinks is right. Pump Up the Volume is entertaining, but it also has just enough subversiveness to practice what it preaches. So many teen dramas are dumb; here’s one that is actually brave. Pump Up the Volume ought to be required viewing in high schools across the country. But then again, the superintendents would never allow such a thing, would they? (Mike McGranaghan)