Many critics saw the movie "Permanent Record" as a sanitized and vastly inferior version of "River's Edge." The L.A. Times remarked that PR "started like River's Edge and ended like 'Fame." Even Keanu thought the movie's ending was a cop-out because, as Sheila Johnston (Keanu biographer) remarked, it had "a feel-good ending on a feel-bad story." Some suggested the main difference between the two films was that one was an independent production (RE) and the other was a studio product (PR) encumbered by the pressure to please the audience. Both movies dealt with teen angst and aliennation in reaction to very extreme teen experiences: murder and suicide. Both movies should be applauded for tackling the hard issues in today's society, a rarity in the current teen movie market. It is easier for me to watch Permanent Record than River's Edge, not because of the differences in the endings of each movie, but because the teens in PR are similar to the teens I work with everyday and I can relate to them easier. I have also worked a few times with teens like the ones in RE, and the experience is just as difficult in real life as it is to watch on screen.
PR unfolds, or meanders, through a series of subplots (the school play, the first party, the rock band), as each is impacted by a friend's suicide. Variety's response to this approach was negative, stating that the film was "populated by profoundly unrewarding characters doing and saying utterly uninteresting things." Roger Ebert, on the other hand, called PR "one of the year's best films" and concluded that it "absorbed us in apparently unremarkable details." Not all movies need loud explosions and dramatic action scenes to be good movies, and PR was a good movie as it "unfolded, like life." All the critics credited the movie with a great soundtrack. The score and several featured songs were written by Joe Strummer of Clash (one of Keanu's favorite bands). Keanu performed most of the guitar sequences in the movie. PR was the first movie Keanu was listed as the star and he received rave reviews for his performance. It was one of four of his films released in 1988: Night Before, Prince of Pa., Dangerous Liasons (by a few days) were the other three.
Permanent Record began filming in September 1987 in Newport and Portland, Oregon. Paramount gave it an $8 million budget, high for a small film, because of the success of other serious teen movies at that time, like RE, Pretty in Pink, and Breakfast Club. It was released on April 22, 1988 and made $2 million in its short run in U.S. theaters. Its director was Marisa Silver, who was well-known as an Emmy-nominated documentary film-maker. It was only her second feature film (her first was called "Odd Enough," which won honors at the U.S. Film Festival). She wanted the movie to be "life-affirming;" Keanu agreed, stating that the friend's suicide (David) taught his character "a lesson about life." The director wanted unknown actors with "idiosyncratic qualities" to play the supporting roles, many of whom went on to recognition in TV series in the 1990's, such as Kathy Baker (David's mom) who starred in "Picket Fences" and Barry Corbin (David's dad) who starred in "Northern Exposure." Keanu was almost 23 years old when he tried out for the role of David, but was cast instead as 17 year old Chris Towsend, David's best friend and the emotional center of the film. The producer, Frank Mancuso, Jr., said they wanted Keanu because "we were looking for an actor to portray someone who {was} constantly on the edge...someone with real highs and lows. Keanu was able to convey that." And conveyed it well, in gut-wrenching, raw scenes like the one in the street with David's father, as he cried out bitterly, "I should've known," and in quiet moments, as Chris awkwardly told David's family and friends that the death was not an accident, but a suicide. L.A. Times wrote that Keanu's portrayal had "a relaxed vitality and unwavering honesty" to it and the Boston Globe said Keanu was "a young actor of depth and remarkably sure instincts."
The role of Chris was similar to other roles Keanu played in the 1980's, such as Matt in River's Edge, Rupert in "Prince of Pennsyvania", and Ted in "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure." Once again Keanu was playing a character who was an aimless slacker with poor school performance, and a dysfunctional relationship with his father. But unlike the above characters, Chris and his friends were trying to adapt to the larger adult world. His Chris was more emotional than Matt, more accepting of male authority figures than Rupert, and more in tuned with his peers than Ted (though Ted and Chris do become musicians in their own right by the end of their movies!)
From the opening scene, in which we become a part of the crowd of students as they make their way to Thurber High School, to the later scenes, where we experience the shock and sorrow of their friend's suicide, the audience feels they are an intimate part of a shared experience. For this reason, I like Permanent Record and I think its a quiet, thought-provoking movie on a very difficult subject.
The balcony is now open.
UPDATE:Thanks to Keith.
**********Update Feb 4, 2005*********
Thanks to yutthakan for proving an mp3 of the Jennifer Rubin version captured from the film (there's a bit of dialog in there but the recording is wonderful).
Right click on the link below and save to your hard drive. Please do not stream or link directly to the file from another site, thanks.
Wishing on Another Lucky Star-Jennifer Rubin.mp3
*********
Further Update 07/06/05
Big Thank You to Jens who sent the chords to the song and says:
"For those of you that have the gift of musical talent I here give you the chords of the song (as I hear it) so you can play it yourself."
(the formatting doesn't want to cooperate when I paste it into the entry, so here it is as a text file. --krix)
"Wishing on Another Lucky Star" - J.D. Souther
F Dm7
Your friends may lie
Bb C
The truth can come from strangers
F Dm7
If I knew why
Bb C
We wouldn't be in this danger
Dm7 F Bb C Bb G
Leaning out the window of my car
F C Bb C F
And wishing on another lucky star
F Dm7
Life is long
Bb C
It is not made to measure
F Dm7
You will go on
Bb C
The same in pain and pleasure
Dm7 F Bb C Bb G
Wondering how we ever got this far
F C Bb C F
By wishing on another lucky star
Dm7 Bb
Life goes on
C
As sure as the sky
Dm7 Bb
It's come and gone
C
In the wink of an eye
Bb F
You leave your home
Bb F Bb F
On the wings of a lie:
Bb F Bb
"You will never die"
F Dm7
The world is cold
Bb C
A heart gets torn and tattered
F Dm7
The one you hold
Bb C
It can be dropped and shattered
Dm7 F Bb C Bb G
Leaning out the window of my car
F C Bb C F
And wishing on another lucky star
Dm7 Bb
Life goes on
C
As sure as the sky
Dm7 Bb
It's come and gone
C
In the wink of an eye
Bb F
You leave your home
Bb F Bb F
On the wings of a lie:
Bb F Bb
There's a car outside . . .