Main Cast: Alan Boyce, Keanu Reeves, Michelle Meyrink, Jennifer Rubin, Pam Gidley
Release Year: 1988
Country: US
Run Time: 92 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
High school student Alan Boyce has it all: looks, charm, popularity, excellent grades, a promising future. So why does Boyce abruptly commit suicide? As the shock waves of the boy's death reverberate through the halls of his school, the other students--particularly Boyce's best friend Keanu Reeves--ask themselves if they, too, are capable of self-destruction. As for the adults, Boyce's suicide is one more of a myriad of mysteries concerning "Generation X" (though it was not yet so labelled in 1988). While the film offers no easy answers, either for the characters or the audience, Permanent Record ultimately demonstrates that there are ways to cope with the pressures of life other than taking one's own life. An added bonus: the teenagers in the film act like genuine teenagers, not like TV sitcom wisecrackers or oversexed cretins. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Lou Reed - Himself; Michael Elgart - Jake; Richard Bradford - Leo Verdell, Principal; Dakin Matthews - Mr. McBain, Drama Teacher; Barry Corbin - Jim Sinclair; Kathy Baker - Martha Sinclair; Joshua Taylor - Nicky; Sam Vlahos - Mr. Townsend; David Selberg - Dr. Moss, School Superintendent; Phil Diskin - Security Guard; Paul Ganus - Randy; Ron Jaxson - Woody; Jan Merlin - Minister; Mark Springer - Sailors Audition; Kevin Brown - Tiny; Garrett Lambert - Producer; Carolyn Tomei - Chemistry Teacher
Credit
Steve Karatzas - Art Director, Amanda Mackey-Johnson - Casting, Tracy Tynan - Costume Designer, Eric Heffron - First Assistant Director, Marisa Silver - Director, Robert Brown - Editor, Martin Hornstein - Executive Producer, Joe Strummer - Composer (Music Score), Becky Mancuso - Musical Direction/Supervision, Neil Portnow - Musical Direction/Supervision, Michel Levesque - Production Designer, Frederick Elmes - Cinematographer, Frank Mancuso, Jr. - Producer, Martin Hornstein - Producer, Woody Crocker - Set Designer, Robert Gravenor - Sound/Sound Designer, Jarre Fees - Screenwriter, Larry Ketron - Screenwriter, Alice Liddle - Screenwriter
Permanent Record is a 1988Americandramafilm starring Keanu Reeves, Alan Boyce and Jennifer Rubin. It was filmed on location in Portland and Cannon Beach, Oregon.
David (Alan Boyce) seems to have everything. He is smart, talented, funny, and popular. He is best friends with Chris (Keanu Reeves), a quirky outsider. He seems to have it all together, yet as his personal academic expectations and those of his parents become overwhelming, he keeps his problems to himself. At a party with his school friends along the coast, he takes a walk to the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean. Chris, playful as ever, decides to sneak up on his friend, but when he emerges from behind a rock, David is not there. He has fallen to his death. Originally assumed to be a horrible accident, the situation changes when Chris receives a suicide note in the mail. Chris and David's girlfriend, Lauren (Jennifer Rubin), want to hold some type of memorial, but a reluctant school decides against it, leaving the kids to memorialize their friend in their own way. The movie primarily deals with the profound effect the suicide has on his friends, and how they work through their grief.
