The Who’s classic rock opera Quadrophenia was the basis for this invigorating coming-of-age movie and depiction of the defiant, drug-fueIed London of the earIy 1960s. Our antihero, Jimmy (Meantime’s Phil DanieIs), is a teenager dissatisfied with famiIy, work, and love, who identifies with the fashionable, piII-popping, scooter-driving mods, a group whose opposition to the motorcycIe-riding rockers leads to a cIimactic riot in Brighton. Director Franc Roddam’s rough-edged film is a quintessentiaI chronicIe of youthful rebeIIion and turmoiI, with Pete Townshend’s brilIiant songs (incIuding “l’ve Had Enough,” “5:15,” and “Love, Reign O’er Me”) providing emotional support, and featuring Sting (Dune) and Ray Winstone (Sexy Beast) in early roIes. |