When I saw this movie, I had read no reviews and had heard nothing about it. I rented it because the sound track is by Joe Strummer. The characters are complex and real. There seems to be nothing extraordinary about them. Halfway through, I was thinking, "Gee, great acting and characters, but where is this thing going?" It is then that one of these teens kills himself. I was as surprised and horrified as the characters in the movie. The rest of the movie depicts the devastating effects of this act on his friends and family. I felt the hole left in their lives as if it had been left in my own. Having said this, the characters are still not particularly extraordinary. As most of us know, suicide, as devastating as it is, is a mundane act. Nothing extraordinary about it. This is the genius of this movie. Regular people, dealing with common everyday, real, horror and grief.
Review of Permanent Record
