Around The Fire

Around the Fire
USA, 1998; 107 minutes
Director: John Jacobsen
Screenplay: Tommy Rosen, John Comerford
Cast: Devon Sawa, Eric Mabius, Tara Reid

Reviewed by:
Steve Silberman
Editor, Wired Magazine
and author of Skeleton Key:
A Dictionary For Deadheads.

Around the Fire is the first truthful portrait of a generation:
The kids who grew up in post - '60s suburbia with everything they wanted but the community they so desperately needed. Through the character of Simon -- played with energy and grace by Devon Sawa in his most challenging role to date - filmmakers John Comerford and Tommy Rosen sketch the journey of a bright kid who goes "on tour" following a rock band (based loosely on the Grateful Dead) to find the kind of family he never had. He finds it, but also discovers that the drugs that first opened his doors of perception can themselves become a prison, as those who love Simon watch him spiral out of control.

Rosen and Comerford draw intensely engaging performances out of a small ensemble. There's passion, joy, and wit in Around the Fire - including a classic comic scene involving a '90s version of an acid chemist -- while the confrontations between Simon, his parents, and his girlfriend are harrowing and true. The film avoids all cliches about drug abuse, and facile portrayals of recovery, to wrestle with the darkness at the core of family life. Anyone who went to a Dead concert during their 30-year career - as well as the many followers of contemporary "jam bands" like Phish - will see reflections of their own experience in Around the Fire, but it's not just a movie for Deadheads.

It's a film for anyone interested in what it takes to become an authentic human being by walking the often difficult road toward love, honesty, and self-acceptance.