A work in constant progress (and occasional regress).
Featuring:
Devon Sawa, Bill Smitrovich, Tara Reid
Written by:
John W. Comerford
Tommy Rosen
Directed by:
John Jacobsen
Release Date:
September 26, 1998
Original Title:
Around the Fire
Alternate Titles:
Ali bruciate
Jugando con fuego
Genres:
Drama | Romance
Production Companies:
Paradigm Studio
Production Countries:
United States of America
Ratings / Certifications:
US: R
Runtime: 107
Simon is an intelligent and privileged young man whose family expects him to become a Princeton graduate. Crying out for attention from his reserved and cool hearted family, Simon commits numerous petty crimes and is soon sent away to boarding school where he befriends a "Deadhead," adopts the "hippie" lifestyle and dabbles in many drugs in his search for acceptance.
Around the Fire is the deeply resonant story of a boy named Simon, who despite being raised in an upper-class Manhattan household with all its privileges--and restrictions--is haunted by the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of his mother. In Simon's eyes, his high-powered businessman father Matt wasted no time in remarrying his stepmother Lauren, a woman with a perfect facade whom he suspects of having an affair with Matt long before his mother's demise. When Simon is sent away to boarding school in preparation to attend Princeton, he meets Andrew, who introduces him to marijuana and LSD, and immerses him into a whole new world populated by dreamers, artists, utopians, flower children and partiers who spend the better part of their lives "on tour" at musical festivals. Simon is deeply moved by the beauty and freedom of these people, and feels they are the family he has always sought. At his very first concert Simon meets Jennifer, a beautiful young hippie to whom he is immediately attracted, Trace, a hipster on the road less traveled who immediately bonds with him, and Kevin, a champion of the "seize the day" ethic who is dying of AIDS. As Simon delves deeper into this new-found free-spirited lifestyle, he must face an inevitable conflict not only with the life his father has planned for him, but also with the self-destructive emotional turmoil deep within. Struggling to come to terms with these conflicts, Simon makes a series of bad decisions which land him in a strict drug rehab program run by a street-smart, yet caring woman named Kate. It is here that Simon is made to take a look at himself in an honest light and to learn that until he finds out what is right for him, his chances for happiness will be fleeting at best.
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Art Direction:
Tracey Gallacher
Associate Producer:
Lance Rosen
Casting:
Jory Weitz
Cinematography:
Eliot Rockett
Costume Design:
Chris Aysta
Director:
John Jacobsen
Editor:
Brian Berdan
Music:
BC Smith
Producer:
John W. Comerford
Tommy Rosen
Production Design:
David Lubin
Writer:
Tommy Rosen
John W. Comerford
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