Barnes & Noble

This incisive 1995 comedy was one of the decade’s most lionized independent films, and with good reason. Making his directorial debut, Noah Baumbach gives voice to Generation X adults-to-be, ill prepared to reconcile their hermetic educational experiences with the pressures and responsibilities of the workaday world. Kicking and Screaming focuses on a group of college friends gripped by post-graduation ennui and determined to delay the inevitable by remaining on campus in their insular little community. A model for what hip, skillfully constructed indie films could aspire to, Kicking and Screaming sports a surfeit of pithy, quotable lines delivered by an outstanding ensemble cast including the ubiquitous Parker Posey, Cara Buono, Chris Eigeman, Olivia D’Abo, Josh Hamilton, and Eric Stoltz. Baumbach -- who went on to earn an Academy Award nomination for his Squid and the Whale script -- gets the full Criterion Collection treatment in this edition, with deleted scenes, conversations with the director and various cast members, his short film Conrad and Butler Take a Vacation (2000), and more. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

Inspired by the advent of Seattle's grunge music sound and popular films such as Slacker (1991) and Singles (1992), the Generation X comedy-drama was born. Typified by characters in their early twenties sharing an abundance of education, a lack of career direction, stunted romantic aspirations and an obsession with popular culture, one of the better examples of the genre was Kicking and Screaming. Josh Hamilton stars as Grover, a recent college graduate and aspiring writer depressed over the departure of his girlfriend Jane (Olivia d'Abo) for a fellowship in Prague. Josh's best friends are in a similar predicament. Skippy (Jason Wiles) is a classic slacker couch potato still attending classes despite having graduated, while the philosophical Max (Chris Eigeman) and Otis (Carlos Jacott), a mechanical engineer, both remain unemployed. Tenth-year student Chet (Eric Stoltz), who works at a local bar and has still not finished his education, serves as a cautionary tale for the four unmotivated pals. Kicking and Screaming was the debut of writer and director Noah Baumbach and the first of several cinematic collaborations between him and actors Eigeman and Stoltz. Karl Williams

Product Details

• UPC: 715515019828
• Source: CRITERION
• Region Code: 1
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Editions: Subtitled
• Time: 1:36:00
• Sales Rank: 7,613

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Kicking and Screaming / Big Fat Liar
• Family Comedy Quadruple Feature

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