Havoc (film)  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Related e

Wikipedia
Wiktionary
Shop


Featured:

Havoc is a 2005 American film about the lives of wealthy Los Angeles, California teenagers whose exposure to hip hop culture inspires them to imitate the gangster lifestyle. They run into trouble when they encounter a gang of drug dealers, discovering they are not as street-wise as they had thought.

The script was written by Jessica Kaplan (1979-2003) and Academy Award-winning screenwriter Stephen Gaghan and the film was directed by Barbara Kopple. After appearances at several film festivals, the film was released directly to DVD on November 29, 2005 without ever receiving a theatrical release in the U.S.

The film stars Anne Hathaway, Bijou Phillips, Shiri Appleby, Freddy Rodriguez, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Biehn and Laura San Giacomo.

Plot

In a parking lot in which a teenage filmmaker named Eric (Matt O'Leary) is attempting to document the faux-gangsta lifestyle enjoyed by Allison (Anne Hathaway) and her boyfriend Toby's (Mike Vogel) gang of white upper-class teenagers living in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood. A brawl ensues between Toby's gang and another gang, which ends with both sides fleeing just before police arrive. Later that night, Toby's gang goes to a party at Eric's house, and Allison's relationship with Toby as well her other friends Emily (Bijou Phillips) and Sam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is further revealed. At the end of the party, Allison and her boyfriend have sex at the back seat of the car.

The next day, Allison meets with her father (Michael Biehn) at work to discuss family problems, the awkward conversation revealing the virtually non-existent relationship Allison has with her parents. Afterwards, she and her friends drive downtown into East LA, intent on buying marijuana, eventually encountering Mexican drug dealer Hector (Freddy Rodriguez) and his crew. Toby and Hector make a deal, but Toby believes that Hector did not sell him enough for what he paid, and attempts to confront Hector, who pulls a gun on him, humiliating him in front of his friends. Allison persuades Hector to leave Toby alone.

The next night, Allison and her girlfriends return to the location of the drug deal. There, she and her friends once again meet up with Hector and his crew, who invites them to a party at his house. Before they leave, Hector informs Allison of a motel where his crew regularly party, and invites her to stop by if she wishes.

The next day, Eric continues his film project at Allison's home, with Allison turning his interview of her into a bizarre mind-game. That evening, Allison meets up with Hector again in a store, and he shows her around his neighborhood, while talking about his family and lifestyle. His guided tour abruptly ends when the police arrive in force, ostensibly on a drug bust. Allison winds up being arrested with the other present gang members, but – save for an argument with her parents and Toby – is let off the hook. The experience only serves to increase Allison's fascination with the inner-city lifestyle. The night after her release, Allison and Emily agree to head downtown the next evening to hang out with Hector's crew.

The two meet up with Hector and his gang at a motel, and a night of partying and drinking results in Allison and Emily asking Hector if they can join his crew. Hector informs them of their initiation; to join the gang, the two must roll a die; the number they roll corresponds to the number of gang members they must have sex with. Allison rolls a one, Emily rolls a three. Hector and Allison pair off, but Allison has second thoughts and refuses to have sex with him, and is thrown out of the room by the gang when she tries to get Emily to leave with her. Emily eagerly engages in sex with Hector, but as she does so, Hector has one of his fellow gang members copulate with her anally, against her will. When Allison storms the room and screams at the men to stop, they flee the room, leaving the two distraught women.

The next day Allison returns to the motel and confronts Hector over what had happened the previous night. Hector responds by saying he didn't do anything wrong, that he only did what she and Emily asked him to do. At that moment a woman shows up at the door, surprising Allison, much to the amusement of Hector, who mocks Allison for thinking he had feelings for her, and calling her a poser who only knows how to play games and nothing about the realities of gang life. The same day, Emily is shown at a police station, accusing Hector and his crew of gang rape. Allison is brought in for questioning, but claims to know nothing about a rape.

Hector is subsequently arrested, and members of his crew vow to seek out and silence Allison and Emily, but wind up getting lost in Bel-Air. Meanwhile, Toby and his gang are shown posing with guns in front of Eric and his video camera, making clear their intent on seeking revenge on Hector's crew. Eric later shows Allison the footage, and Allison subsequently calls Toby and makes an ill-fated attempt to convince him that there was no rape and what he is doing is foolish.

Allison informs Emily of what Toby plans to do, and reveals to Emily's parents the events at the motel. This initially upsets Emily to the point of nearly attempting suicide, but eventually the two reconcile. Meanwhile, Toby and his gang arrive at Hector's motel and bust in violently, but only succeed in frightening a group of Latino women and a baby. Toby tries to work up the nerve to shoot them, but, consumed by their desperate pleads to not hurt the baby, realizes he can't and storms out. On their drive home, the gang passes the SUV containing the members of Hector's crew that had been looking for Allison and Emily. The two gangs exchange looks, and the screen subsequently fades to black. After a few seconds the sounds of tires squealing, people shouting and gunfire are heard.

Eric concludes his film with Allison saying that teens will be teens, but if adults are willing to reach out to them to connect and give them even just a small amount of insight, it's like they suddenly know everything.

Cast




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Havoc (film)" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

Personal tools