Empire Records Totally Explained

Everything about Empire Records totally explained

Empire Records is a 1995 comedy-drama about a group of record store employees. The film was directed by Allan Moyle and stars Anthony LaPaglia, Liv Tyler, Renée Zellweger, and Rory Cochrane.

Plot summary

The events of the film take place within a single day. Empire Records, an independently owned record shop, is about to be sold to the Music Town corporation by its owner to become another run-of-the-mill chain store. Lucas (played by Rory Cochrane) attempts to save the day by taking a gamble with the store's sales proceeds, but ends up making things worse when he loses it all. Rex Manning (Maxwell Caulfield), an arrogant (and washed-up) singer, shows up for an in-store promotional appearance that day, and a local teenager (Brendan Sexton III) attempts to steal merchandise. The employees, who see Empire as a second home and their coworkers as something of a second family, are also experiencing difficulties in their personal lives and relationships with one another. Upon learning of the store's looming fate, the employees and their boss, Joe Reaves (Anthony LaPaglia), band together to save it.

Reaction and cult status

Something of a slice-of-life teen comedy-drama, the film did poorly at the box office and received generally poor reviews, but attracted and has maintained a devoted cult following since its release, mainly among young adults who first saw the film as adolescents. Numerous web shrines have been created in the film's honor, and a special edit was released on DVD in 2003, after many years of petitioning from fans wanting the deleted scenes to be made available.

Trivia

A reference is made to the rock band The Who when Rex tells the kids to fade away. (In the 2003 edition this line isn't used. It is replaced with alternate take featuring a more reflective Rex Manning stating "You know what, maybe you're right.")
Many of the stars would later go on to appear in Jerry Bruckheimer's CBS crime dramas. Rory Cochrane would star as Tim Speedle on, Anthony LaPaglia would star as Jack Malone in Without a Trace and Johnny Whitworth would land a guest appearance on Cold Case and Without a Trace and then a recurring role on, though he made his appearances years after Cochrane had already left the show. Debi Mazar would also guest star on .
Brendan Sexton III's character is named Warren Beatty.
Tobey Maguire, who later became famous for his role in Spider-Man and its sequels, had a small part in the movie. Maguire requested director Allan Moyle release him from his part in the movie due to health reasons. Moyle agreed, and all of Tobey's scenes were deleted from the final film. His name is still in the final credits at the end of the movie.
A sign by the register that says "Have a nice daze" shows the logo for Dazed and Confused (1993).Rory Cochrane, who plays Lucas, played Slater in Dazed and Confused.
Robin Tunney's character has a horizontal suicide-attempt scar on her wrist. In The Craft, her character bears vertical suicide-attempt scars.
The movie was originally filmed as two days but was cut and fit to one. This is most obvious in the apparent breakneck speed at which Jane (Rex Manning's assistant) decides to quit her job and stay in town as Joe's new girlfriend. Some of the material that didn't make it to the one-day cut is included in the "Empire Records Remix, the Fan Edition" DVD.
At the time this movie was made, Coyote Shivers was married to Bebe Buell, which made him the stepfather of co-star Liv Tyler.
Warren, played by Brendan Sexton III, was supposed to have a sister, but like Tobey Maguire, her scenes (and ultimately her character) were deleted from the final cut of the film.
The movie was written by a former employee of Tower Records store #166 (Christown Spectrum Mall) in Phoenix, Arizona. When the film was released and for a long time afterward, a number of her former coworkers still working cited anecdotes and other elements of the film that related to the store. This store closed in early 2005, ten years after the film's release

Original Soundtrack

"Till I Hear It From You" by Gin Blossoms

"Liar" by The Cranberries

"A Girl Like You" by Edwyn Collins

"Free" by The Martinis

"Crazy Life" by Toad the Wet Sprocket

"Bright As Yellow" by The Innocence Mission

"Circle of Friends" by Better Than Ezra

"I Don't Wanna Live Today" by Ape Hangers

"Whole Lotta Trouble" by Cracker

"Ready, Steady, Go" by The Meices

"What You Are" by Drill

"Nice Overalls" by Lustre

"Here It Comes Again" by Please

"The Ballad of El Goodo" by Evan Dando

"Sugarhigh" by Coyote Shivers The version of the song Sugarhigh that appears in the movie differs significantly from the one included on the soundtrack. The main differences are that the movie version has additional lyrics and chorus vocals provided by Renée Zellweger and it's musically one semitone lower than the cd version .

Main cast

Anthony LaPaglia.... Joe Reaves

Maxwell Caulfield.... Rex Manning

Debi Mazar.... Jane

Rory Cochrane.... Lucas

Johnny Whitworth.... A.J.

Robin Tunney.... Debra

Renée Zellweger.... Gina

Ethan Embry.... Mark (as Ethan Randall)

Coyote Shivers.... Berko

Brendan Sexton III.... Warren (as Brendan Sexton)

Liv Tyler.... Corey Mason

James 'Kimo' Wills.... Eddie

Ben Bode.... Mitchell Beck

Gary Bolen.... Croupier

Kimber Sissons.... Woman at Craps Table (as Kimber Monroe)

Tobey Maguire.... Andre (scenes deleted)Further Information

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