‘I just happened to be nowhere near your neighbourhood...’
Throughout his early career as both a music journalist and a filmmaker, Cameron Crowe had a knack for capturing the zeitgeist. When Crowe started filming Singles on location in Seattle in March of 1991, the Grunge scene was mere months away from exploding. Crowe recognised this and so enlisted Soundgarden and Alice in Chains to appear in the film, as well as members of Pearl Jam to play fictional band Citizen Dick. The soundtrack, which has since become iconic, features all of the above as well as Mother Love Bone, Mudhoney and The Smashing Pumpkins. As a result of this, Singles, more than any other film of the era, captured a moment in time. It’s also a smart and funny romcom that would help shape the subgenre over the coming decades…
As with Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Crowe’s previous film, Singles follows an ensemble cast made up of Bridget Fonda, Campbell Scott, Kyra Sedgewick, Matt Dillon and Bill Pullman, with cameos or small roles for Eric Stoltz, Jeremy Piven and Tom Skerritt. There isn’t much in terms of plot; in its place is that particularly ’90s phenomenon (much missed) of a cast of interesting characters discussing life, love, movies, music and what it means to be young. In that respect, Crowe joins Tarantino, Kevin Smith, Steven Soderbergh, Richard Linklater and Whit Stillman as documenters of the era.
Another hallmark of Crowe’s career is his ability to spot talent. While Campbell Scott never fulfilled the potential of his winning performance here, Dillon and Pullman demonstrate all the qualities that would see them go on to dominate Hollywood in the ’90s. The former provides a perfect parody of the dickhead rock star, while the latter’s everyman charm would be replicated across multiplexes in bigger and bigger movies throughout the decade. It’s a joy to see two future leading men honing their craft here. It helps that Crowe is very much an actor’s director, allowing the material to breathe through many seemingly inconsequential scenes that smuggle in character development through the back door.
Singles is destined to forever be remembered as ‘the Grunge movie’, and while it should be noted that the soundtrack is indeed incredible, there’s more to Singles than the music. This was Crowe’s last film before becoming a filmmaking superstar. All the ingredients for that success can be found both here and in Fast Times. Both are worth revisiting.
