Groove (film)

{{Infobox film

| name = Groove

| image = Groove Poster.jpg

| caption = Film poster

| director = Greg Harrison

| producer = Greg Harrison
Danielle Renfrew

| writer = Greg Harrison

| starring = {{plainlist|

Chris Ferreira
Mackenzie Firgens
Lola Glaudini
Denny Kirkwood
Hamish Linklater
Vincent Riverside
Rachel True
Steve Van Wormer}}

| music = Scott Hardkiss

| cinematography = Matthew Irving

| editing = Greg Harrison

| distributor = Sony Pictures Classics

| released = {{Film date|2000|01|21|Sundance|2000|06|09|United States}}

| runtime = 86 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget = $200,000

}}

Groove is a 2000 American film directed by Greg Harrison. It portrays one night in the San Francisco underground rave scene. Through a single email, the word spreads that a huge rave is going to take place in an abandoned warehouse. John Digweed has a cameo as himself and also contributed to the soundtrack with Nick Muir, under their production alias Bedrock.

Plot

Groove tells the story of an all-night rave. The film is broken up into segments according to which DJ is spinning and features real-life DJs Forest Green, WishFM, Polywog, and Digweed. Introverted aspiring writer David Turner is reluctantly dragged to a rave at a warehouse by his brother Colin. David takes ecstasy for the first time and makes a romantic connection with fellow raver, Leyla, who has newly moved to the Bay Area from New York.

Cast

{{Cast listing|

Chris Ferreira as Bill
Mackenzie Firgens as Harmony Stitts
Lola Glaudini as Leyla Heydel
Denny Kirkwood as Colin Turner
Hamish Linklater as David Turner
Steve Van Wormer as Ernie Townsend
Rachel True as Beth Anderson
Vincent Riverside as Anthony
Dmitri Ponce as Guy Pritchkin
Ari Gold as Cliff Rafferty
Aaron Langridge as Joe Torres
Wendy Turner-Low as Lisa Monroe
Bradley K. Ross as Aaron Lubiarz
Polywog as DJ Polywog
Forest Green as DJ Forest Green
Wade Randolph Hampton as DJ WishFM
Monty Luke as Dancefloor DJ #5 (Cinco)
Brian Behlendorf as Chill-out room DJ
John Digweed as DJ Digweed
Bing Ching as DJ Snaz
Elizabeth Sun as Maggie McMullen
Nick Offerman as Sergeant Channahon

}}

Production

After being turned down by studios for funding, production costs were met by selling shares of the film to investors similar to angel investment of a startup company.{{cite news |last1=Bannerman |first1=Betsy |title=Groove a Dream Come True for Filmmaker Greg Harrison |url=http://www.noevalleyvoice.com/2001/April/Groo.html |access-date=18 December 2022 |work=The Noe Valley Voice |date=April 2001}}

The film was shot in the San Francisco area and included scenes at Pier One,

Fillmore Street, China Basin, and the Bay Bridge.{{cite web |title=Groove |url=http://www.filminamerica.com/Movies/Groove/ |website=filminamerica.com |access-date=18 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071021230504/http://www.filminamerica.com/Movies/Groove/ |archive-date=October 21, 2007}} Principal photography took place in 24 days in August and September 1999.{{Cite web |last=Kleinman |first=Geoffrey |title=Greg Harrison III - Director of Groove |url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/interviews/greg_harrison_i.html |access-date=December 18, 2022 |website=DVDTalk.com}}

Release

Groove premiered at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival, where it was acquired for distribution for $1.5 million by Sony Pictures Classics.{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=Janelle |date=January 28, 2000 |title=Sundancing |url=https://www.salon.com/2000/01/28/groove/ |access-date=December 18, 2022 |website=Salon |language=en}} It was given a limited theatrical release on June 9, 2000.

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 57% based on 51 reviews, with a weighted average rating of 6.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Though high on energy and great techno tunes, Groove{{'}}s characters and plotlines are too clichéd to be engaging."{{cite web|title=Groove (2000)|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/groove|work=Rotten Tomatoes|publisher=Fandango Media|accessdate=March 6, 2018}} On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 54 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.{{cite web |url=http://www.metacritic.com/movie/groove |title=Groove Reviews |work=Metacritic |publisher=CBS Interactive|accessdate=March 6, 2018}}

At the 16th Independent Spirit Awards, Groove was nominated for the John Cassavetes Award.