Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful performances by Tara and Devon in a deep film
Review: Around The Fire is not your typical teen movie. It deals with one young mans experiences with drugs and his battle within himself to recover. Devon Sawa excellently portrays the young man, who discovers the world of drugs while away at school. While his new found friends can handle casual drug usage, it seems to take over control of his body and mind, and he becomes a totally different person. One of his new friends, Jennifer, a vegi stir-fry cook, brilliantly portrayed by Tara Reid, shows true compassion and love for him, and stands by him and supports, and helps him throughout his endeavours and ordeals, even after he treats her like garbage while the two of them are at his father and stepmother's house for dinner. She once again shows that she is a very talented and diverse actress and can handle the most dramatic roles with flying colours. The soundtrack is very nice and it's nice to watch a movie that actually tells a story, and sort of pulls you in to relate to the characters, and feel for them. At times you feel for Simon, (Devon's character), and at times you think he's a real jerk, especially how he treats Jennifer at dinner, when it's obvious she's only trying to be supportive, and show how much she truly cares for, and about him. It may not be an action packed, sex filled, blockbuster, but it is a very enjoyable, well acted film.
Rating: 
Summary: Believably good.
Review: Around the Fire isn't a great film. It isn't even necessarily an artistically good movie. It is, however, a believable movie and, in the context of a more recent hollywood drug-message film -- Traffic -- that makes it a worthwhile one-time watch, especially if you can catch it on cable. In fact, most of the redeeming qualities of this movie emerge in comparison to Traffic, and it's unfortunate that Soderbergh didn't consult Around the Fire before directing his shamefully overstated story line. What see in one of Traffic's subplots -- a rich girl suddenly involved so deeply in narcotics that she even condescends to (gasp!) sleep with a black man -- smacked of needless moralizing without bothering to present a believable family dynamic. In fact, Traffic reinforced the message, touted by the DEA (which the film supposedly critisized), that marijuana is a gateway drug, that it leads to a slippery slope to heroin, speed and crack, and that drugs in general make white girls do undignified things. Around the Fire, on the other hand, gives us a family burdened by years of miscommunication, a main character who gets high and still graduates from prep school, and a whole host of likeable and casual users. Several internet reviews call this film didactic, comparing it to propaganda films like Reefer Madness. In fact the real bugaboo in the story isn't drugs. It's sad miscommunication and completely justified rebellion. Cut to some realistic acid-trip cinematography, and we have a film that shows us the lighter, enjoyable side of recreational use. Did Soderbergh forget that people use drugs because they're interesting? John Jacobson, first time director of Around the Fire, didn't, and it's refreshing to see a movie where the psychological and social motivations for use are balanced with the more general fact that, yes indeedy, drugs are fun. The movie does not, however, celebrate or even recommend your weekend high. The overarching message is that the context of use matters, as evidenced in a couple of bad trip sequences. Anyone who has dosed knows that individual frame of mind effects the outcome of the acid experience. The cause of every bad trip in this movie, correctly, is the psychological demon that the lead character needs to confront, not the "traffic" of drugs. Finally, Jacobson portrays the family therapy industry with sympathy that doesn't cross the line into absurdity, as the therapy sequences in Traffic do. Recall the bloated image in Soderbergh's flick of a young woman testifying in a huge marbled room strewn with silk banners (a la Prospero's Book) needlessly swaying from the ceiling. Now fade to Jacobson's simple carpeted room in an office building at a rehab clinic, father and son sitting face to face, backed by silent wittnesses sitting behind them, and you see therapy as it actually unfolds in clinics all across America. The primary gift of this movie, overall, is that, far removed from the aesthetic pretense of film-fest elites, it simply unfolds a story as hundreds of like stories actually unfold. A good, not great, movie that shows the value of family without pandering to the political rhetoric of "family values," Around the Fire is a decent movie-night watch. Because it doesn't try to grapple with huge social issues, it can freely and believably portray the immediate, personal issues that Traffic tried, fitfully and failingly, to deal with.
Rating:
Summary: Cool
Review: Being a teenager i am going through this now, i loved the movie my main problem is that before i bought it i could only watch it at like 1am on stars. I can watch it over and over. It shows what teenagers go through and how drugs are in there life, personally i think most teenagers would love the movie. It shows that you can do drugs and have a great life, as long as you don't get out of control with it.
Rating: 
Summary: IT DOESNT GET ANY BETTER
Review: I first heard of this movie while sitting in my friends garage passing around a bowl and watching the movie grass. I beleive around the fire was the second preview on this movie. I headed to the video store and picked up this movie right away. I watched it 4 times in the 2 days that i had it and then went out and bought it. It is a gem, this movie is a tale of a young man who discovers the joy and happiness of life on the road with your favorite bands. the soundtrack is amazing (features bob marley, phish, grateful dead and more). I watched this movie with my uncle, who was a "dead head" (which means he followed the grateful dead on tour) and my cousin who works with the band phish as a roadie. they both said that this movie is the real deal. it made me laugh, it made me cry and it made me think, not many movies have done all of that for me. rent this movie!!!!!
Rating:
Summary: best movie ever made
Review: i gotta say, i don't watch a whole lot a movies, but this is by far the best movie i've ever seen. in fact, i kinda detest movies and tv, but this isn't like others. this is a must see, actually kids, its a must have. i'm not one to help these big companies gain business, but seriously kids, you got to see this. its written and produced by dead-heads, and i don't know if most of the cast are, but their still chillin heads, you can tell. i can totally relate to this movie, and anyone whose been on tour can either relate it to themselves or thier friends, definately. i know many many kids who got too caught up in working and doing drugs, who become too selfish and greedy and forget what the fam's and tour's and the music is really about, and thats whats this movie's all about. they do a very good job of duplicating the lot scene, of course the don't get every little detail, but trust me kids, you'll be suprised. just see it, rent it at the least, then you'll want it. i just rented it today, just chillin out with my parents and sister, and they asked me to go get some movies. and this caught my eye. you won't be disappointed. peace and love kids
Rating: 
Summary: DISAPPOINTED
Review: I heard this movie was really good. So I rented it because I go to alot of shows and know how the scene is. Well I popped it in and watched it, and I was really disappointed. First off the movie was pretty slow in some parts.... Another thing is yeah there's drugs there, but that's why you have to be smart and say no!! And it makes the scene look bad by centering the movie around acid!!!! Because there's not always that at shows, and now some dumb teenager is going to go to the shows because they watched Around the Fire and said "Wow there's acid there!!!" It's all about the music!!
I gave this movie 2 stars because Devon is hot, and Tara Reid is pretty cool too. Other then that the movie was terrible.
Rating:
Summary: enjoyable film
Review: I just watched this flick...might I add a great soundtrack and a nice fast moving story line. I thought is was a good movie overall and was glad i bought...being a phish head i have been to many shows and they have really duplicated the scene pretty well on the movie... anyways definitely check it out
Rating:
Summary: Unintentionally Hilarious - a must see
Review: If you've ever been a fan of the jam-band scene, and still maintain some intelligence or vestige of sanity, you will vastly enjoy watching this film, again and again. Not for the soundtrack (which includes such classics as Marley, Dire Straits, Phish and Winwood), not for the actors (although there are some good ones), not for the 'authentic' lot-scene ambience. You'll love this movie because it is so unbelievably lame, you will not be able to stop laughing.
From the early scene where Andrew asks Simon what music he listens to, Simon replies "what kind of question is that?" and Andrew declares, "That's only the most important question I could ever ask you," this movie is fully loaded with some of the cheesiest and most hilariously lame moments I have ever seen. Kate Matthews, the world's most unprofessional rehab counselor, flies off the handle with no more provocation than a little junkie 'tude, then laughs at Simon for ending up in rehab. Andrew comes out with lines like "ALWAYS check the hippie pouch," and introduces Simon to guys who blow into conch shells to determine the future. A lot of guys in the movie dance with their arms above their heads, looking like complete idiots. Jennifer and Trace laugh uproariously every time Simon says something naive or stupid, leading me to wonder, was nobody else willing to be their friend before he came along? In this movie, hanging out with someone for two hours makes you a friend for life.
The best character in the movie is Kevin, Simon's "demented friend" who is in a wheelchair and at death's door for reasons that are never explained (outside of Kevin saying "I had WAY too much fun"). He asks Simon about his experience at a concert, Simon replies, "I can't put it into words," and Kevin counters sagely: "You just did." When Kevin starts strumming his guitar, entire drum circles fall silent so he can play original compositions like "I Don't Mind Failing In This World"; creative works that make the Dude of Life seem like Mozart. He abruptly dies when the plot finds it convenient, leaving Simon - who has apparently hung out with him a handful of times - to bear the responsibility of scattering his ashes. Huh?!?
Add to this inexplicable flashbacks-within-flashbacks, the spectre of Simon's mother's death (also never explained; the movie suggests she had WAY too much fun as well), and a series of festivals and concerts during which you NEVER see a band or any musicians at all (except Kevin) and you have a film that will leave you scratching your head in puzzlement and laughing out loud at the ridiculousness of it all.
It's time to open the package!
Rating:
Summary: over the edge for the 21 centurey great film
Review: this film is a great this cast wonderful and the story is good to. If you want to show your kid's the way drugs can hurt you then show them this movie. It takes time but there is a great message at the end of this film. if you like this movie then watch over the edge.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful performances by Tara and Devon in a deep film
Review: This isn't your typical "stoner" movie. Its still a stoner movie, but its deeper than any stoner movie I've seen. Around the Fire is the story of a young man away from his family for the first time that experments with drugs for the first time in his life and realizes that when he's high, he no longer thinks about the torment memories from his childhood that fill his head. Maybe it is your typical "tennager doing drugs to escape personal problems" movie, but its diffently one you should rent. Most people like myself will find themselves drawn to his movie, somehow reminded of a certain time in their lives.
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