It’s Rex Manning Day!

Everyone has movies that are formative for their lives. There will be films that hit at the right moment, that resonate with things you’re going through, and you’ll bond to that film and carry it with you through your life. As a teenager, working on a video store, Empire Records became one of those formative movies. Yes, it’s about a record store instead of a video store, but otherwise it felt true to the retail experience for me. Sillier, more over the top, yes, but still coming from a place, and from characters, that I could recognize.

It’s interesting to think back on that now, to look at where the film was for many of us when it came out, and then to see how the world has shifted since then. Empire Records is all about a small music shop fighting against a takeover from a larger chain, and at the time of the film’s release the big chains were Tower Records and Blockbuster Music. Those chains are gone, as is the whole music buying scene like we knew it. Small shops still exist, but their tiny, cult affairs, quite unlike the big stores we used to have. And, for me, I realize that video stores are in the same boat now, and a whole era is basically fading away.

I have to wonder if that means Empire Records is reaching its own shelf life at this point. Whereas films like Mean Girls and Bottoms can hold up over time because high school will always be high school, so many retail chains that we thought were indestructible are gone now. The music stores of old were destroyed by Napster and online music. Video stores are a dying breed because of NetflixOriginally started as a disc-by-mail service, Netflix has grown to be one of the largest media companies in the world (and one of the most valued internet companies as well). With a constant slate of new internet streaming-based programming that updates all the time, Netflix has redefined what it means to watch TV and films (as well as how to do it). and its competitors. Teens watching Empire Records now likely won’t have the same experiences working in retail, won’t have that same vibe as they bond with these characters (if they bond with them at all). At a certain point, the audience for this film will have eroded much like the retail chains this film was gleefully a part of.

The movie opens on Lucas (Rory Cochrane), an employee at Empire Records who has been approved to close the store by manager Joe (Anthony LaPaglia). While handling the paperwork (while also goofing off in the store that night), Lucas stumbles across paperwork indicating that the Empire might get sold to Music Town. Hoping he can stave this off by making a/ lot of money and, somehow, buying up the store, Lucas takes the store’s daily income and drives off to Atlantic City where he plunks all the money down on craps. He wins big, roll after roll, until suddenly crapping out, losing all the money. Devastated, he drives home, not sure of what to do.

The next morning, Joe comes in and gets a call from the bank, saying that the deposit wasn’t made. As soon as Lucas arrives, things get tense as Joe realizes Lucas took in. Lucas confesses that he didn’t need the money, he was just trying to save the Empire. Not sure what to do, Joe sets Lucas on a couch while he schemes how to save the store. As it turns out, Joe was also planning to try and buy the Empire, and he even had a downpayment together to try and make it happen. But having to cover Lucas’s lost money and keep the kid out of jail could put that in jeopardy. It’ll take quite the plan, and a lot of luck, to save the Empire now.

The plot of Empire Records doesn’t really describe most of what goes on the film. It’s a slice-of-life story, following a whole cast of characters as they go through a full day working at the Empire. We have A.J. (Johnny Whitworth), an artist who is in love with Corey (Liv Tyler). Corey has had a crush (since she was a little girl) on Rex Manning (Maxwell Caulfield), an aging pop star who, as it so happens, is coming to the Empire that very day, and Corey wants to lose her virginity to him. There's Debra (Robin Tunney), who is dating pizza guy (who also has a garage band) Berko (Coyote Shivers). The night before she also tried to kill herself and she's going through a lot today. And that doesn't even get into the characters without major arcs, such as Renee Zellweger as Gina, Ethan Embry as Mark, and Debi Mazar as Rex Manning's assistant, Jane. It’s a packed movie.

What all these characters, and all these plot threads, do is get you into the world of the Empire. You’re here for a day, to see some of these characters find resolution while others go about their lives, enjoying the store they work at and the friends they have. It works because you get that these characters care about the store, not just when they’re working there but also when they realize that the Empire might be in trouble and could get bought out by a chain that won’t care about the store at all. They care so we care.

It also helps to make the store feel like a character in and of itself. It has its own vibe, an eclectic decorating style that shows the years of care and love that have gone into the store, all the eras it’s been around for and seen, and the music that graces its shelves. I wouldn’t say the store is at all realistic; certainly the employees seem to spend more time goofing off than actually working there or doing anything helpful, but the place has a lived-in feel that sucks you in and makes you feel comforted. You want the Empire to be a real place so you can go there and browse music while seeing all the employees having a good time.

And, yes, you do want to see the store survive. Even now, this message of the movie still works. We’ve all seen fun little mom and pop shops close down because some big box retailer moves in. And then, of course, we see the big retailer slowly get rid of all the stuff we liked, ruining the experience entirely. Music stores, movie stores, geek life stores (like ThinkGeek) were all run into the ground by bad management and “market trends'' because the corporate parents didn’t care about the stores. Profit over everything else that leads to less and less customers over time as the magic of the experience is drained away. It’s nice to see the employees of Empire Records band together to save the store they love and put it in the hands of an owner that cares.

With that said, the ending of the movie has never worked for me. At the end (and spoilers for a 30 year old movie) the employees all throw a massive street party at the Empire, selling off merch and memorabilia and, in addition, getting donations from the crowd. This money they then give to Mitchell (Ben Bode), store owner, and that somehow clears up the debt. Then Mitchell decides to sell the store to Joe because Mitchell hates owning a record store and Joe loves it. The store is saved and everyone goes up to the roof to celebrate.

The issue is that none of this would have worked out this way in reality, and even as a young teenager myself I somehow realized all this. The street party would have been shut down immediately by the cops because the employees didn’t get a permit for it. The merch and memorabilia was the property of the store, and all that money raised, as well as the donations given to the store, would, by right, be Mitchell’s anyway. They didn’t pay back the debt. If anything they only stole more from the store and then gave it back to Mitchell to say, “hey, we’re square, right?” And none of this should have convinced Mitchell to sell to Joe since he was already going to sell to Music Town. Either way, the store was off Mitchell’s hands, so why would he give it to the guy he literally just, in effect, stole from him twice?! It just doesn’t work.

With that said, the feel good vibes of the street party and the celebration after does help to paper over the flaws some. It’s nice to think that just by caring, and showing their love for the store, they could somehow save it. The Empire would clearly turn into one of those indie music shops, the kind that still lingers even now, catering to the few that still love to buy physical music from like-minded employees. You can even imagine a few of these employees, like Mark and Warren, still working at the store, 30 years later, caring for it the way Joe used to when he was there every day. It’s a nice thought, all these years later.

Empire Records works because it gets you into the mood and vibe of the store. This is a film that you just want to hang out with, enjoying the music while a cast of old friends goes about their day. It’s nice to have these characters around, hanging out and slacking through their day. Even if it’s hard to believe everything would work out in the end (both for this store’s issues and for the music retail industry as a whole) you can’t help but feel a little hope as the credits roll.