Directed by filmmaker Susan Siedelman on location in New York City and released in 1982, The Smithereens features actress Susan Berman in the lead role of a woman named Wren. She is a reasonably obnoxious young lady in her late teens/early twenties who really wants to start up her own band. She's got plenty of ideas and a spunky attitude, but the problem is she doesn't really seem to have what it takes to make that happen. Soon she meets a nice guy named Paul (Brad Rijn) who has just wandered into town from the Midwest. He's low on prospects but high on charisma, even if he does sleep in his van in a crappy old parking lot in a rough part of Manhattan.

Paul falls for Wren fast and hard and is pretty much willing to do anything for her right off the bat. Call it infatuation, call it puppy love, whatever you want… but he digs her something fierce. They eventually go out on a date but Wren just isn't feeling the same vibes. In fact, she's far more interested in rock ‘n' roll bad boy Eric (played by real life rock ‘n' roll bad boy Richard Hell). Sadly for Wren, Eric is a user and a loser and really seems more interested in sponging off of her more than he is in engaging in anything remotely resembling a relationship.

Wren bounces back and forth between the two guys for a good part of the movie, not really sure what to do about any of this. Eventually she gets put into the position where she chooses between the two men, and it affects her dismal life.

The film is almost completely character driven. The story isn't exactly intense or riddled with action and excitement and the film is more about the people in it than what happens to them. The characters, while not exactly a loveable group, are interesting though and all three of the main leads do a respectable job (Richard Hell was more or less just playing himself here).

A big part of The Smithereens focuses on Wren's self-esteem issues. She's intent on making everyone believe that her life could be better if she wanted it to be, even though in reality she's a bit of a loser without much ambition. She's got her head in the clouds as far as her music career goes and the prospects in her life as far as the men she's hanging around aren't a whole lot better at first either. She uses people in much the same way that Eric does, though sees herself as a far better person than she sees him. In short, she's a bit of a bitch. At the same time, she feels like a real person, and that's a big part of the movie's appeal. Susan Berman is very good in the role. She's completely believable here, he character comes off as rebellious and aloof but in realistic ways rather than as any sort of ‘punk movie cliché.' Despite her many and obvious flaws, Wren is at least interesting to get to ‘know' during the course of the film. We may not always like what she does or how she treats people but we do want to know what's going to happen to her, which is a testament not only to the quality of how Siedleman and company wrote the character but also to Berman's acting skills.

A strong score and a soundtrack featuring contributions from The Feelies, The Nitecaps, The Raybeats, and of course Richard Hell And The Voidoids among others, helps to propel the film. There's good momentum here, it's never dull, even when it's little more than characters sitting around talking or simply complaining about things. Anyone who ever felt disenfranchised in their younger days should have no trouble relating to the people in the picture. Additionally, the New York City locations couldn't be more perfect for the picture. Shot entirely in less than glamourous parts of Manhattan, the tough streets and grubby structures that populate them make the perfect backdrop for the drama and humor that comes through in the story.

Director Susan Siedelman would later go on to some acclaim with her directorial duties on the Madonna film Desperately Seeking Susan and the HBO series Sex In The City. She also directed Rosanne Barr in She-Devil, so her career has taken some interesting turns since this, her debut feature, was made!

Video:

The Smithereens comes to Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection properly framed at 1.66.1 widescreen in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer on a 50GB disc. This was shot on 16mm and it shows, the image is quite grainy, but that's not a bad thing. It's resolved nicely here and gives the movie an appropriately gritty, authentic film-like appearance that will definitely please purists. Detail advances quite nicely over the old DVD release in pretty much every frame of the film. Skin tones look nice and natural and color reproduction seems accurate. Black levels are quite strong and while some minor white specks appear here and there (though quite infrequently) the picture is thankfully free of any major print damage. This was never a glossy production to begin with, and those familiar with the film should appreciate the fact that even on a nicely restored Blu-ray edition such as this that gritty aesthetic is still retained. There's no evidence of obvious noise reduction or edge enhancement issues nor are there any problems with compression artifacts.