The Anarchist Cookbook

Starring:Devon Gummersall, Travis Willingham, Dylan Bruno, Richard Jackson (VII), Gina Philips, Johnny Whitworth, Katharine Towne, Steve Van Wormer, Sandi Schultz, John Savage, Sabine Singh, Amy Greenspun, Bo Barron, Marcus Moziek, Todd Terry, Matt Prescott Morton, Ryan Thomas Brockington, Nancy Drotning, Sean Hennigan, Montre Bible
Director: Jordan Susman
Studio: Universal Studios
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

This leisurely, sometimes-hilarious, sometimes-harrowing dramedy by Jordan Susman concerns the misadventures of college dropout Puck (Devon Gummersall), a would-be anarchist who lives in a commune with other free spirits and whose anti-authoritarian misdeeds amount to low-key street theatre. That changes with the arrival of Johnny Black (Dylan Bruno), a violent militant who eventually controls Puck and his friends, briefly lands them all in jail, and later develops a monstrous confederacy of skinheads, gun nuts, and environmental extremists. The marvel of this film is that with so much harrowing stuff going on, The Anarchist Cookbook is a gentle yet solid character piece set against a peculiar history--a modern-day Flaubert tale of a young man's sentimental education. Standout performances from John Savage as Puck's supplanted guru, Katharine Towne as the hero's unlikely Republican girlfriend, and Gina Philips as an omni-sexual monster who sleeps with everyone but the hero. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Valuable only as Satire. .......2007-06-19

Yes, this is truly a terrible movie with a plot as pointless and forgettable as the movement that it is supposed to represent. The characters are very stereotypical, and, in terms of my own observations of anarchists, the actors look as close to the genuine article as I do Beyonce. The one thing that does give the production value is the hysterical way in which it unintentionally savages the absurd ways of the self-righteous leftist fringe. The most self-righteous of them all is a sixties wash-out who loves Sweden and little boys but definitely not in that order. Viewers will soon find that the main characters are a group of fools who stand for nothing and are against everything. They then admit to their being against the idea of being against everything. A great line is that in their clubhouse everything is allowed except smoking--great, so they're trendy too. They even do a performance of radical street theatre that includes the axing of fake minks. At that point, I was actually laughing out loud. Yes, I got a kick out of this movie but I can't pretend that anybody else would.

Incredibly misunderstood, but it has a really good message.......2006-12-04

Alright, so this movie isn't "really" about Anarchists because most of the characters who refer to themselves as Anarchists aren't really. They are more like hippies than Anarchists, and the only character to actually realize this is the main character of Puck. It follows the same formula as Train Spotting, with a similar ending, but I would still reccommend it.

Regardless of this, it is still a good movie. The point of this movie is not to show that Anarchism sounds good until you actually meet a real anarchist. Johnny Black is the natural progression of anarchisitic ideas, and that is what the movie is really about. The end of the movie isn't about "giving into the man" or "betraying who you are"; Puck's final decision is about doing the right thing because it's the right thing and not because anyone says you should. What I think the movie is trying to say is that this isn't any "right" ideology, and the best we can do is try to be good people.

Good movie about the coming of age in a lost youth.......2006-11-13

Dallas, Plano, and the suburbs are what Puk thought he despised the most. He believed in freedom, no order, and self rule. Then life changed when Jonny Black came into the picture. Full of hidden little puns and quirks (Jonny Red vs. Johnny Black) ect... this film tells a tale of cautionary woes on who to value as friends, and what to truely believe in. I think this movie was a bit ahead of the times, poking fun at the republicans and the way that they were stearing the country at the time (look at the election results), but it also reminds us to not go to far the other direction either, because both extremes can have problems.
"Take A Hit", see this film, interesting enough to kill some time on a cold winters day.

Weird movie.......2006-08-14

It's kind of a goofy movie. Nothing like what I expected. It's neither a comedy or a drama. A little of both. It follows a group of young people (well except the leader is old) who want to change the world but really just living haphazardly. More like hippies than anarchists. It's a group that looks out for each other...until Johnny Black comes into their lives and remakes the group into his idea of how it should be. Which is very destructive. Most leave. Puck doesn't like the changes and leaves but returns to take care of the remaining original members.

I really disliked the ending. It was interesting in a mildly entertaining way but I can't recommend this movie.

b.......2006-02-07

Summary:
This was a movie about a guy who lives in a big crappy house with an overbearing, arrogant, nihlist bent on destorying all order, overthrowing the system and creating chaos. this nihlist then bulit up an army of militant goons who would do his bidding and cause havok. . . .wait, no that was Fight Club.

THIS movie is about a young anarchist who isn't sure about what to do with his life, until his best friend, whome he lives with OD's on pills. after his friend's death, he decides to go back to college and lead a respectable life. . . .wait, no, wrong again.
I was thinking of SLC Punk.

Anarchist Cookbook is about a bunch of kids squatting in a crappy house and living for free, disrupting the public whenever possible. . . .no, that was Suburbia.

What WAS this movie about????

despite all that criticism, RENT it you you feel at all interested in seeing it, it wasn't that bad, just not real original.

Average customer rating:

Valuable only as Satire.
Incredibly misunderstood, but it has a really good message
Good movie about the coming of age in a lost youth
Weird movie
b

The Anarchist Cookbook
Starring: Devon Gummersall , Dylan Bruno , Richard Jackson (VII) , Gina Philips , and Johnny Whitworth
Director: Jordan Susman
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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