Bomb City

Jamie Brooks – 2018 – USA

Although needlessly couched in a cautionary, after-school special type of framework, Bomb City is a completely satisfying and thought-provoking drama about a group of anarchist friends in 1990s Amarillo, Texas, (known as ‘Bomb City,’ because of the nuclear weapons plant it was home to). The film is based on a true case in which a high school jock from a well-off family was exonerated in court for the killing of another young man in a brawl based primarily on the fact that the victim had a spiked mohawk. The film devolves into a courtroom drama in its final act, but the bulk of it, the good parts, revolve around Brian and his fellow punks. Trying to live off the grid as much as possible, and yet maintaining normal connections with family and even holding down jobs, the kids are constant victims of harassment by rednecks and cops in their conservative town. The heart of the film is really the extraordinary performance by Dave Davis as Brian. Articulate, creative and warm-hearted, Brian also takes his convictions seriously, in the punk way, in terms of believing that mainstream society is rigged to keep the human spirit contained through fear and complacency. Many great philosophers and artists believed this too, but that does Brian and his friends no good in the small town they’re stuck in. They are suspected of every vice and crime, from drugs to devil-worship. When one of them is violently beaten by a group of jocks one night, Brian goes along with his friends to get payback, leading to a rumble and a tragic outcome. The subsequent murder trial is almost a formality, as the verdict is a foregone conclusion. The defense merely has to discuss Brian’s anti-social “punk” attitudes in order to transform him into the guilty one. This kind of thing happens a lot; e.g. the West Memphis Three or the Central Park Five. Bomb City is worth checking out by anyone with an interest in civil liberties issues, but more so because of Dave Davis’ great work in the lead role.