Shoplifters of the World – For Fans of The Smiths

Do you have an immense passion and ardor for something? Do you love it so much that you’d be devastated if it didn’t exist anymore? That’s what Shoplifters of the World is all about. Here that ‘something’ is the famed English Rock band The Smiths. The film essentially tells the story of five coming-of-age teenagers, all ardent fans of The Smiths, and their devastation when The Smiths break-up, and how it affects them on a personal level.

Shoplifters of the World is named after one of The Smiths’ singles and serves as a love letter to the band that writer/director Stephen Kijak fills with plenty of memorabilia. Kijak is well-known for his musical documentaries but this film sees him branch out by bringing that flavor to this narrative feature. But, that exactly is where the film narrows itself down to an extent where it fails to matter to anyone who is not a fan of The Smiths. Stuffed with references and lines from the music of The Smiths, it creates a world so reclusive of anything else that even the characters’ stories get overwhelmed. The film is divided into four parts, each named after a Smiths song. That is not to say that there is no merit to the extravagant and eye-popping production design brought to life with the posters and relics from the era of the 1980s.

When it comes to the characters, this is essentially where the script goes flat. Shoplifters of the World can boast of all the numerous references (which by the way matter at most to the fans only) but its script was where it truly faltered. Throw in some derivative coming-of-age story beats that are so clearly overpowered by the music and songs that if one ‘catches their groove’ (see even I can reference a band), one might stop caring about the dialogue and the story at all. The puerile acting also does not help the film’s cause, although the scenes at the radio station between Dean (Coltrane) and Full Metal Mickey (Joe Manganiello) do add some positive value to the film. The two, especially Manganiello, are one of the lone bright spots of the film.

Talking about the bright spots in Shoplifters of the World, there were others to be had. The film is structured as two parallel narratives: One follows the group of four friends as they party hard before one of them departs for the Armed Forces, the other takes place in the radio station where Dean holds the DJ hostage (not so much) at gunpoint to force him to play The Smiths music all night. This parallelism and division help Kijak execute his vision of portraying how the music permeates the lives of these teenage fans, and how it covers some of their personal wounds. Towards the end when the four friends pose for a picture, there is an eerie similarity to The Smiths poster referenced before, which can be interpreted as how their journey mirrors The Smiths’. The four become The Smiths in their own lives and will probably split soon. Meanwhile, the use of color is done well in some scenes to illustrate how the characters’ inner-world is changing and to reflect their thoughts. Although such scenes are rare, they exist.

In the end, Shoplifters of the World is a film about fandom. How passionate can one be to commit a crime and talk a radio station hostage, just so that you can make others appreciate your obsession? Will one give up meat and become a celibate just because that’s what your ideals talk about in their songs? That’s what these five teenagers did. Possibly, even the filmmakers shared this obsession. And that became the very reason for the film losing sight of its narrative. Had it not been for an inane onslaught of references and poor writing, this film could have achieved something substantial.

But, for what it is, Shoplifters of the World is best for ardent fans of The Smiths who revel in the band’s glory.

still courtesy of Pacific Northwest Pictures

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