Themes: College Life, Men's Friendship, Twentysomething Life
Main Cast: Alyssa Milano, John Rhys-Davies, Ben Affleck, Sam Rockwell, Megan Ward, French Stewart, Vien Hong, Vinnie DeRamus, Spalding Gray
Release Year: 1996
Country: US
Run Time: 99 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
"El Rancho," a sort of punk rock Animal House, is the setting for this college drama. Five roommates live in this group house on the cusp of college graduation. Jack (a mohawk-wearing Ben Affleck) is an art major pining over his ex-girlfriend, while Rob (Sam Rockwell) fears domestication after graduation. The artist of a popular campus comic strip, Mickey (Vinnie DeRamus), is still too shy to talk to girls. Slosh (Vien Hong) is an A-student who gave up his education in favor of drinking and partying. The elder of the crew is Dennis (French Stewart), who, despite the wisdom and advice he offers to his younger housemates, is unaware of the less-than-academic attentions of his professor (John Rhys-Davies). The five consider whether they can postpone their lives to stay for one more year. The film missed the trend in Generation X films (Reality Bites, Singles, Kicking and Screaming) by a few years; as a result, the punk characters and soundtrack of this latecomer probably provide a more authentic atmosphere. The rowdy debauchery distinguishes itself through genuine honesty -- drinking and destroying furniture may not be the healthiest way to deal with youthful angst, but it is certainly popular. Spalding Gray, Matt Damon, and Matthew McConaughey make interesting cameo appearances. ~ Jonathan E. Laxamana, All Movie Guide
Christopher Slater - Co-producer, Jacqueline Arhur - Costume Designer, Felicia Fasano - Costume Designer, Rich Wilkes - Director, Richard Candib - Editor, Lisa Vollack - Composer (Music Score), Alfred Sole - Production Designer, Robby Müller - Cinematographer, Christopher Tayler - Cinematographer, Michael Scot Bloom - Producer, Chris Moore - Producer, William O'Reilly - Producer, Aaron M. Weinberg - Producer, William Woodward - Producer, Jos van der Linden - Producer, Rich Wilkes - Screenwriter, Harry Mulisch - Book Author
The film deals with five friends who share a house (called "El Rancho") while attending art school at UC Santa Cruz. Now they are graduating, and they are struggling to delay going their separate ways.
Glory Daze is notable for being such a small production featuring so many then-lesser-known actors (Affleck, Damon, Stewart, Rockwell, McConaughey, Remini, Fraser) who would all soon achieve a level of mainstream success that, in many cases, surpassed that of the cast members who were more recognizable at the time it was made (Milano, Rhys-Davies, Gray). It would be difficult (and prohibitively expensive) to reassemble the same cast again.
