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Empire Records tells the tale of a bunch of teens that work at a free-spirited small record store. The store is in financial trouble and is on the verge of being bought out by one of the big corporate music stores. Somewhere in the story there is room to throw in a visit to the record store by David Hasselho...errr Rex Manning. There are much better movies about teens (Dazed and Confused, American Graffiti), fighting the corporate machine (any Michael Moore documentary), and even record stores (High Fidelity).

Right from the start Empire Records seems destined for mediocrity. It doesn't fit in with the teen genre-defining films like Dazed and Confused and American Graffiti, and it isn't laugh-out-loud funny like the American Pie trilogy. It does manage to get a starring role out of Rory Cochrane, but his stoner character in Dazed and Confused was way better than the irresponsible wiseass he plays here.

Empire Records had some good parts to it, but in the end it left a bad aftertaste. None of the characters seemed real. They were all so over-the-top with their personalities that I don't think many viewers would be able to relate to them. Compare that with the great movies of this genre, like Dazed and Confused, where you'll repeatedly find yourself thinking "I was that guy." This movie wasn't a total disappointment, it's just that there are so many other similar movies that are much better.

Rating: 5.0 out of 10