Singles (1992)
January 10, 2025 8:05 AM - Subscribe
[TRAILER] In Seattle during the era of grunge music, the lives and relationships of a group of young people, all living in the same apartment building, go through a period of flux. Among them are waitress and aspiring architect Janet (Bridget Fonda), who finds herself obsessed with bad boy musician Cliff (Matt Dillon) ; Linda (Kyra Sedgwick), an emotionally fragile environmentalist on the look-out for love; and Steve (Campbell Scott), a quintessential nice guy who studies traffic patterns.
Also starring Sheila Kelley, Jim True-Frost, Bill Pullman, James Le Gros, Ally Walker, Tom Skerritt, Jeremy Piven, Tim Burton, Peter Horton, Devon Raymond, Camilo Gallardo, Paul Giamatti, Eric Stoltz, Debi Mazar, Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament, Cameron Crowe, Chris Cornell, Victor Garber, Matt Cameron, Jerry Cantrell, Kim Thayil, Eddie Vedder, Layne Staley.
Written and directed by Cameron Crowe. Produced by Cameron Crowe, Richard Hashimoto for Warner Bros. Cinematography by Tak Fujimoto, Ueli Steiger. Edited by Richard Chew. Music by Paul Westerberg.
79% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Currently streaming in the US on Criterion, Vudu, and Plex. You can check streaming options for your country/services on JustWatch.
Also starring Sheila Kelley, Jim True-Frost, Bill Pullman, James Le Gros, Ally Walker, Tom Skerritt, Jeremy Piven, Tim Burton, Peter Horton, Devon Raymond, Camilo Gallardo, Paul Giamatti, Eric Stoltz, Debi Mazar, Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament, Cameron Crowe, Chris Cornell, Victor Garber, Matt Cameron, Jerry Cantrell, Kim Thayil, Eddie Vedder, Layne Staley.
Written and directed by Cameron Crowe. Produced by Cameron Crowe, Richard Hashimoto for Warner Bros. Cinematography by Tak Fujimoto, Ueli Steiger. Edited by Richard Chew. Music by Paul Westerberg.
79% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Currently streaming in the US on Criterion, Vudu, and Plex. You can check streaming options for your country/services on JustWatch.
I love this movie. I still have a Singles t-shirt. I am sure it hasn't aged well as I'd like, but that soundtrack is a banger. I made my family go see when it was released on a rainy afternoon while we were on vacation at Myrtle Beach.
I cannot stress enough how many movies my parents saw because of me and my little sister--Singles, The Lost Boys, The Crow, etc. Man, my folks were game.
posted by Kitteh at 8:49 AM on January 10 [5 favorites]
I cannot stress enough how many movies my parents saw because of me and my little sister--Singles, The Lost Boys, The Crow, etc. Man, my folks were game.
posted by Kitteh at 8:49 AM on January 10 [5 favorites]
It's cute. And yeah: the soundtrack, if you're of a certain age/tastes.
Like I said, I think I missed my window. It only partially worked for me because I was too young, and then again because I was too old.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:00 AM on January 10
Like I said, I think I missed my window. It only partially worked for me because I was too young, and then again because I was too old.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:00 AM on January 10
I remember two lines from this movie: “Come to where the flavor is. Come to Debbie Country” and “Sometimes?”
posted by infinitewindow at 9:01 AM on January 10 [3 favorites]
posted by infinitewindow at 9:01 AM on January 10 [3 favorites]
I was fifteen and female, so of course it hit a sweet spot for me! I don't think I've ever met a male who liked this movie, though.
posted by Kitteh at 9:05 AM on January 10 [1 favorite]
posted by Kitteh at 9:05 AM on January 10 [1 favorite]
I don't remember this movie at all although I know I saw it. The soundtrack, of course, was popular, and I remember having it on cassette and playing it in my car on my way to and from high school. Now I have to add it to my watchlist.
posted by miss-lapin at 9:09 AM on January 10
posted by miss-lapin at 9:09 AM on January 10
I don't think I've ever met a male who liked this movie, though.
Hi!
It came out right before I went to college, so it got me right in the sweet spot for timing. Young adults just a bit ahead of my age that I could see in an aspirational way, but me being too young and inexperienced to understand how shallow the presentation was. I'd guess there's a fair amount of dudes who would identify with Steve a bit out there and yes I do own a copy of Blue Train.
In the age of Spotify, it's hard to explain the impact of the soundtrack and all the other early-90s alternative compilation albums that were coming out. You could spend your $16 on ONE disc that had songs by Pearl Jam AND Soundgarden AND Smashing Pumpkins that you weren't likely to get any other way, plus more obscure stuff that you maybe didn't want to buy a whole album of like Mother Love Bone or Screaming Trees. Amazing.
Extremely hot take: "Dyslexic Heart" is itself a different version of "Waiting for Somebody".
posted by LionIndex at 9:16 AM on January 10 [7 favorites]
Hi!
It came out right before I went to college, so it got me right in the sweet spot for timing. Young adults just a bit ahead of my age that I could see in an aspirational way, but me being too young and inexperienced to understand how shallow the presentation was. I'd guess there's a fair amount of dudes who would identify with Steve a bit out there and yes I do own a copy of Blue Train.
In the age of Spotify, it's hard to explain the impact of the soundtrack and all the other early-90s alternative compilation albums that were coming out. You could spend your $16 on ONE disc that had songs by Pearl Jam AND Soundgarden AND Smashing Pumpkins that you weren't likely to get any other way, plus more obscure stuff that you maybe didn't want to buy a whole album of like Mother Love Bone or Screaming Trees. Amazing.
Extremely hot take: "Dyslexic Heart" is itself a different version of "Waiting for Somebody".
posted by LionIndex at 9:16 AM on January 10 [7 favorites]
I always gently seethed that Seattle got its name all over "Singles" but they needed a Minnesota musician for the soundtrack.
posted by wenestvedt at 10:33 AM on January 10 [4 favorites]
posted by wenestvedt at 10:33 AM on January 10 [4 favorites]
I don't think I've ever met a male who liked this movie, though. *raises hand*
This is still my favorite of Crowe's movies, though I agree with Kitteh that I'm sure it hasn't aged as well as I'd like. In addition to the banging soundtrack (which I still listen to occasionally) it has some great quips and character interactions, as well as cameos (in addition to the previously mentioned, don't miss Paul Giamatti in one of his first roles as one of the couple making out in the booth of the Virginia Inn where the main characters are having lunch).
I can see where the appreciation of this film is generational/context-dependent: when it came out I was a several-years-post-college young semi-professional, and even though I lived far from Seattle and wasn't really that into grunge, and even though all of the actors (especially Campbell Scott and Kyra Sedgwick) were way too old for their characters, I really connected with the rom-com sensibilities and humor of it. My girlfriend at the time, a few years younger than me, claimed she didn't really connect with it at all.
I live in Seattle now, and for many years (until fairly recently actually) lived w/in a half a mile of "the Singles building" and would wave and say hi to it every time I drove by. For the 25th anniversary of the film someone purported (whether it was ever actually serious or not was debatable) to be organizing an outdoor viewing party in the courtyard -- on facebook at least it got an overwhelming response (over a thousand RSVP's?), way more people than could ever fit in that courtyard, and the actual residents started panicking and publicly pleading for it not to happen (eventually it didn't).
posted by Pedantzilla at 11:40 AM on January 10 [3 favorites]
This is still my favorite of Crowe's movies, though I agree with Kitteh that I'm sure it hasn't aged as well as I'd like. In addition to the banging soundtrack (which I still listen to occasionally) it has some great quips and character interactions, as well as cameos (in addition to the previously mentioned, don't miss Paul Giamatti in one of his first roles as one of the couple making out in the booth of the Virginia Inn where the main characters are having lunch).
I can see where the appreciation of this film is generational/context-dependent: when it came out I was a several-years-post-college young semi-professional, and even though I lived far from Seattle and wasn't really that into grunge, and even though all of the actors (especially Campbell Scott and Kyra Sedgwick) were way too old for their characters, I really connected with the rom-com sensibilities and humor of it. My girlfriend at the time, a few years younger than me, claimed she didn't really connect with it at all.
I live in Seattle now, and for many years (until fairly recently actually) lived w/in a half a mile of "the Singles building" and would wave and say hi to it every time I drove by. For the 25th anniversary of the film someone purported (whether it was ever actually serious or not was debatable) to be organizing an outdoor viewing party in the courtyard -- on facebook at least it got an overwhelming response (over a thousand RSVP's?), way more people than could ever fit in that courtyard, and the actual residents started panicking and publicly pleading for it not to happen (eventually it didn't).
posted by Pedantzilla at 11:40 AM on January 10 [3 favorites]
Bounced hard off the trailer, which seemed (and still seems) like an ad for something other than a movie; I'd say "dating app" but AFAIK those didn't exist then.
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:10 PM on January 10 [1 favorite]
posted by Halloween Jack at 12:10 PM on January 10 [1 favorite]
Another guy here: I was in college that year, but in New England (not Seattle), and I liked it. *shrug* It was aimed right at my cohort, I think: music-obsessed, young-ish, ironic, and dating.
posted by wenestvedt at 12:12 PM on January 10 [2 favorites]
posted by wenestvedt at 12:12 PM on January 10 [2 favorites]
Also, a fairly powerful play in Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon!
posted by wenestvedt at 12:15 PM on January 10 [4 favorites]
posted by wenestvedt at 12:15 PM on January 10 [4 favorites]
The movie has washed clean from my memory except for a half-remembered shot of Eddie Vedder smirking in a diner. Though “Would?” was the best song Alice In Chains ever did.
Thinking of Bridget Fonda though… when she left the industry, she left.
posted by Lemkin at 12:20 PM on January 10 [6 favorites]
Thinking of Bridget Fonda though… when she left the industry, she left.
posted by Lemkin at 12:20 PM on January 10 [6 favorites]
I always gently seethed that Seattle got its name all over "Singles" but they needed a Minnesota musician for the soundtrack.
Counterpoint: at the time, my college roommates and I knew who everyone on the soundtrack was OTHER THAN Paul Westerberg. Even Mother Love Bone, thanks to Temple of the Dog. The 'Mats just weren't on our radars.
posted by LionIndex at 3:17 PM on January 10 [2 favorites]
Counterpoint: at the time, my college roommates and I knew who everyone on the soundtrack was OTHER THAN Paul Westerberg. Even Mother Love Bone, thanks to Temple of the Dog. The 'Mats just weren't on our radars.
posted by LionIndex at 3:17 PM on January 10 [2 favorites]
Oh hey, I used to own a house the second floor of which was sheathed in plywood stolen from the production of this movie. I think maybe the front door too?
posted by stet at 4:45 PM on January 10 [3 favorites]
posted by stet at 4:45 PM on January 10 [3 favorites]
I remember being eagerly interested in this when it was released because it was Cameron Crowe's followup to Say Anything, that perfect little jewel of a film - but then the trailer turned me off because it looked like it was going to be another of the bog-standard rom-coms that Say Anything wasn't.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:26 AM on January 11 [2 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:26 AM on January 11 [2 favorites]
If I saw this film I've forgotten that I'd seen it, but it does have some cultural prominence and I do recall slinging copies on cassette and cd at the record store in 93. Pump Up the Volume released 2 years prior was my heroin, thankfully the Christian Slater buzz wore off pretty quickly but the Pixies/Frank Black/Kim Deal habit started by that Wave of Mutilation (UK Surf cut) abides with me
posted by ginger.beef at 10:52 AM on January 11 [3 favorites]
posted by ginger.beef at 10:52 AM on January 11 [3 favorites]
Another dude fan here. I grew up in the Seattle area and was in high school when this came out, a somewhat stereotypical grunge-listening flannel-wearer. Enjoyed the heck out of it, and ditto the soundtrack, which I still listen to occasionally. I was a little too young to identify with the characters, but it made me hopeful for life in my 20s. A gentle intro to the "enjoy the art at the same time as you enjoy the art being made about the art and the people who enjoy it" thing.
posted by cupcakeninja at 11:08 AM on January 11 [3 favorites]
posted by cupcakeninja at 11:08 AM on January 11 [3 favorites]
This movie is why I always say "bless you" when someone sneezes.
posted by Gelatin at 6:34 AM on January 13 [2 favorites]
posted by Gelatin at 6:34 AM on January 13 [2 favorites]
Speaking of cameos: Tim Burton as the dating video director who ups his price when he lays eyes on Sheila Kelly's character.
posted by Gelatin at 6:44 AM on January 13 [3 favorites]
posted by Gelatin at 6:44 AM on January 13 [3 favorites]
...my college roommates and I knew who everyone on the soundtrack was OTHER THAN Paul Westerberg...
*gasp*
...As I guessed, checking your Profile reveals you to be Californian. SMH
posted by wenestvedt at 7:06 PM on January 13
*gasp*
...As I guessed, checking your Profile reveals you to be Californian. SMH
posted by wenestvedt at 7:06 PM on January 13
But I went to school in Virginia and my roommates were from New York and New Jersey.
posted by LionIndex at 8:02 PM on January 17
posted by LionIndex at 8:02 PM on January 17
Another dude fan here! For me this was at first just another TV movie I taped in maybe ~1995 Podunk, Finland. Of course I recognized some of the music but I just LOVED the movie! I was 12–13 and a huge romantic, chronically heartbroken. I've watched the movie maybe at least fifteen times since, it is one of my favourite movies of the era. Not perfect, but it doesn't have to be. Thanks DirtyOldTown for the weekly wrap-up post on green, I would have missed this otherwise.
posted by fridgebuzz at 4:10 AM on January 21 [1 favorite]
posted by fridgebuzz at 4:10 AM on January 21 [1 favorite]
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I saw this when it came out and was disinterested in the film's attempt to show people balancing their ambitions and adult relationships because I was 17 years old. All I knew was the "Paul Westerberg score" turned out to be five or six versions of "Waiting for Somebody," a bit of instrumental noodling, and "Dyslexic Heart" over the credits. On top of that, the movie was way less interested in grunge and the accompanying lifestyle than young white and blue collar people who just happened to go to those shows. Everything seemed shockingly clean and only the music and Dillon and Fonda's clothes made it any different than any other romcom.
I saw it again last night and now I'm too old to get wrapped up in these young folks and their problems. Will the gorgeous barista realize she is perfect the way she is? Will the cute young couple get together? Ehhhhhh. There's sweetness and some clever bits ("I got stuck in traffic") but a lot of the romance maxes out at greeting card level.
On a purely complaining about character choices wavelength: how on earth did Janet not pick Dr. Jamison over dumbass Cliff? Yeah, yeah, he finally said bless you. Whatever.
At this point, this was chiefly enjoyable as a time capsule of various things: Seattle/grunge in the early 1990's (even if not that grittily presented); twee 1990's romcom tropes like addressing the camera directly; and that "It's the little things they do like unlocking your car door or saying 'bless you' that prove it's love" trope that seemed well-observed to a lot of people around this time but feel like part of an old coffee commercial today.
So many people I forgot were in this: Tim Burton, Jeremy Piven, Eric Stolz, JAmes Le Gros, Debi Mazar, Tom Skerritt...
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:13 AM on January 10 [5 favorites]