Expert: 7devonapes - 5/12/2011

Question
I am trying to find a movie that I remember as coming out in the early 80's. It is about a straight-laced boy who gets friendly with a gang of rebellious youth who get together on the weekend. He finally throws convention to the wind and burns his bridges to be just like the rebels, only to find out that during the week, the people in the gang actually have jobs and are far from rebellious in their real lives. In despair the kid drives his motorcycle off a cliff. Can you help me identify that movie?

Answer
Hi Ken,

I'm pretty sure the movie you are looking for is called "Quadrophenia" (1979), which was directed by Frank Roddam and starred Phil Daniels as the main youth, Jimmy. The film is based on the legendary English rock group The Who's classic 1973 so-called rock opera of the same name [*a personal favourite of mine]. A plot summary from imdb.com follows:

"London, 1965: Like many other youths, Jimmy hates the philistine life, especially his parents and his job in a company's mailing division. Only when he's together with his friends, a 'Mod' clique, cruises London on his motor-scooter and hears music such as that of 'The Who' and 'The High Numbers', he feels free and accepted. However, it's a flight into an illusionary world."

Imdb page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079766/
Wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadrophenia_%28film%29

The entire film can be watched on Youtube, here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYBFRa7B32I

DVD readily available from Amazon.com, ebay, etc.

Cheers!
Ryan