As a teenager in the '90s, Soleil Moon Frye carried a video camera everywhere she went. She documented hundreds of hours of footage and then locked it away for over 20 years.
Released: 2021-03-12
Runtime: 71 minutes
Genre: Documentaries
Stars: Soleil Moon Frye, David Arquette, Stephen Dorff, Balthazar Getty, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Brian Austin Green, Tori Leonard, Heather McComb, Buzz Aldrin, Dana Ashbrook, Jeffrey Ballard, Jonathan Brandis, Marlon Brando, Adam Carolla, Leonardo DiCaprio, Corey Feldman, Sara Gilbert, Jenny Lewis, Sasha Jenson, Emmanuel Lewis, Mario López, Paul Newman, Justin Pierce, Charlie Sheen, Michael Rapaport, Jonathan Silverman, Mark Wahlberg, Johnny Depp
Director: Soleil Moon Frye
Comments
HunCro - 21 February 2023 Could Have Been So Much More Let me start with two things-I usually disagree with most reviews and as a 90's kid this was up my alley. But the reviews got it right this time. There's lots of great home footage which as expected is all famous people. But as others stated, when a narrative developed the film would immediately cut and move on. As an example, even when the death of a friend happened, it would be difficult to surmise whom. No picture of a news article or archive news footage, not even a current interview about how much the lost friend meant. I can't imagine losing one of my childhood friends, creating a film for Hulu and not honoring them with 30 seconds. Other topics get the same treatment which is what makes reviewers say JUMBLED and NARCISSISTIC to which I agree. Having said that, the footage existed and I don't blame her, having grown up famous. But it could have told a much deeper story in better hands.
beckydobro - 19 February 2022 Not good For the first few minutes, I liked seeing the home videos of 90s teens. I actually didn't care that they were famous even though I grew up seeing them on TV. But the novelty of it wears off pretty quickly. So if you're interested in that aspect of it, just watch some clips on YouTube. It'll be more entertaining in small doses like that.
From the beginning, it's very clear that Soleil is full of herself and this is purely a vanity project. There's a ton of name dropping. It's weird because I went into this knowing that the videos were going to be all famous people, so I was prepared for her friends to be famous. And even though I went into it with that knowledge, the name dropping and showing off was so over the top and off putting.
It's also just a messy film. It doesn't have a clear narrative and doesn't flow well at all. There were several deaths in the film but I have a hard time remembering who died, other than Brandis and that's only because that's the most famous death in there. When she mentions it, it's more about how hurt she was, not about honoring them. I believe Soleil doesn't even realize how self centered it is. She implies throughout the movie that she's giving a gift to everyone by releasing these tapes.
I really wish she had given all the tapes to someone else to put it all together. I would've loved an objective look at all of this done by someone who knows how to make a meaningful documentary.