Go

It has happened before. American Graffiti, The Breakfast Club and Fast Times at Ridgemont High captured life on the brink of adulthood and launched careers. Now comes Go, the first slasherless and scream-free movie to showcase a group of young actors since Feeling Minnesota froze up at the box office. It's the work of director Doug Liman, whose Swingers was an influential anthem to road trips, martini culture and big band music. In Go the action revolves around three sets of actors and a drug deal gone bad. Perhaps its main achievement is throwing high-definition attention on a cast of young, easy-to-look-at actors who will be Most Likely to Succeed in the class of 2001. From Timothy Olyphant's Santa-hatted drug dealer to Scott Wolf's murderous soap opera actor, the roles double nicely as casting advertisements. Liman freely admits, "We spent more time casting than shooting—four and a half months." He poached such demo-graphically correct TV shows as Dawson's Creek and Party of Five while keeping an eye on indie films. "Go has two teenage girls as its leads. If we'd been willing to cast 30-year-olds playing 17, we could have cast it in a day."

The widespread appeal of Swingers was in inverse proportion to its small budget. Liman never expected such a broad reaction to his directorial premiere. "I knew I'd get great performances, show the tape to actors and get them excited about working with me," he says. "That was the extent of my hopes for Swingers. I don't think you can set out to have a cultural impact. Anyone setting out to do it will fail." Go may not have quite that seismic rumble (the rave scene is nothing new), but it is intriguing—sort of a cross between Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Rashomon. "There's a celebration of being 18 in the script," says Liman. "When you're 18 you can do the most socially irresponsible, morally questionable stuff and get away with it. You and your friends do things you shouldn't survive. You're all in a car crash, and it's a miracle nobody gets killed."

Even if you don't like the film, you'll love the actors. They're talented and should be household names by the year you-know-what. With that in mind, we've written thumbnail sketches on our two thumbs-up.

Scott Wolf

Currently known for: Party of Five

About to be known for:Leaving Party of Five.("I don't want to be around when this thing turns to shit.")

Age:30

Broadens horizons in Go by: Playing a gay soap actor who hits a woman with his Miata.

Honest career assessment: "I've had more attention than Urkle, and less than Leo."

Has the potential to be: An elfin version of Brad Pitt.

Wolf has the highest profile in the cast. His character's taste for E has turned him into a narc, with amusing results. His interaction with his lover (played by Jay Mohr) is one of the film's hot spots. "It's one of those films where the whole point is the ride," he says. "It is independent filmmaking at its purest. There were times when I wasn't sure we had cleared the location. Everyone was like, 'Let's just sneak back, open up the lights and don't make any commotion.' At the same time, Doug has an amazing gift with the camera."

Katie Holmes

Currently known for: Dawson's Creek

About to be known for: More Dawson's Creek

Age:19

About-face in Go: Moves from playing naive girl next door who kisses Dawson to playing naive girl next door who kisses drug dealers.

Next big hurdle:Playing somebody other than the girl next door.

"I met with Katie Holmes before Dawson's Creek started," says Liman. "The moment I met with her I knew she was the character Claire." We could tantalize you with how we see Katie Holmes. We could run some of her shy, unassuming comments in which she denies her role as heartthrob. Instead, here are testimonials from two of her smitten male co-stars. "Katie Holmes, she's a hottie," says Taye Diggs. "After talking to Katie for (continued on page 144)Go(continued from page 82) five minutes, you feel as if she could be your sister or best friend," adds Nathan Bexton.

Taye Diggs

Currently known for: Giving Stella her groove back (in style).

About to be known for: The Wood, with Omar Epps, and The Best Man.

Age: 27

Broadens horizons in Go by: Shooting people and stealing cars in Las Vegas while making a mustard-colored jacket look good.

Prepared for film by: Going to strip clubs. "We had to do the research," he explains.

He'd rather not talk about: When he was an actor in Rent, he was overjoyed to hear he had landed his first film role. He celebrated by tearing off his clothes in midperformance and running naked through the theater.

The marvelous Diggs was struck by how different this project was from his big-budget debut, How Stella Got Her Groove Back. "In Stella everything was glossy and the makeup had to be perfect. If your skin was even slightly imperfect, they'd put makeup on your booty. In Go, nobody paid attention to how we looked, since we were supposed to look pretty busted up."

Jay Mohr

Revealing interview exchange: "So, Jay, what else have you been in?"

"Jerry Maguire, Picture Perfect, Suicide Kings, Paulie, Small Soldiers, Mafia!"

"I should rent movies more often."

"Yeah, you should."

About to be known for: Honing his craft in more supporting roles.

Age: 28

Broadens horizons in Go by: Playing a gay jerk instead of a straight jerk.

Defines Go as: "Pulp Fiction with a cast from the WB."

Best described as: New Jersey boy makes good.

"Most of the film was shot with a handheld camera," says Mohr. "You feel like you're making home movies. Liman definitely thumbs his nose at the filmmaking establishment." Mohr is prickly in person, which translates nicely on the screen. In his best scene he screams at Scott Wolf while they drag a wounded and unconscious Sarah Polley out of a ditch. If abrasiveness can be art, he's got it made.

Sarah Polley

Currently known for: Outstanding performance in The Sweet Hereafter.

About to be known for: Go

Age: 19

Reason she'll be huge: Strong acting chops, good looks and a grounding in the Toronto film scene.

Reason she might not be huge: Hates Los Angeles with a passion. ("And that's understating it a bit," Polley says with a laugh.)

Example of this problem: "She wouldn't even read the script for Go," according to Liman. "She passed on the film three times."

Will most likely resemble: Rebecca De Mornay, as she gradually moves from indies to mainstream.

U.S. audiences first saw the Canadian Polley as a girl of eight in Terry Gilliam's critical and commercial flop, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. "Playboy gave it one of its only good reviews," she says. "It was pretty strange being in Playboy when you're eight." She has worked on two feature films in Los Angeles. "But I can't picture doing this for the rest of my life," she says. "The thought is sort of horrifying."

Timothy Olyphant

Currently known for: Indie films (No Vacancy with Christina Ricci), Scream 2 and stage roles.

Breakthrough role in Go: The Santa-hat-wearing drug dealer.

Age: 30

How he managed to be so threatening onscreen: "You don't have to play a badass. If you pick up a switchblade and cut somebody, that makes you a badass."

Has the potential to be: His badass of choice.

Olyphant plays the asshole you want to like but can't trust. One of the weirdest moments comes when he turns up the music and pantomimes to Sarah Polley to take off her shirt. The bizarre striptease isn't about sex—he's checking to see if she is wearing a wire. And what he does with Katie Holmes in a public stairway is heaven. Olyphant is from the know-your-lines-and-don't-bump-into-the-furniture school of acting. "I always try to keep things simple. If the writing is good, all you have to do is memorize your lines," he says. He was the second actor to be cast after Katie Holmes. "They cast us first. Then they said, 'Columbia is picking it up,' and I said, 'With me, right?' "

William Fichtner

Previously known for: Big science fiction flicks: He was the blind scientist in Contact, the nuclear bomb–activating astronaut in Armageddon.

About to be known for: A shockingly good comic performance in Go. He's one scene away from stealing the film. (Think Peter Lorre in Casablanca.)

Age: 42

How he feels about being the old man: "Somebody called me Sir on the set, and I just about died."

Closest equivalent of older dude in young movie: Harry Dean Stanton in Repo Man.

Strangely resembles: An older, respectable Kevin Bacon.

In Armageddon Fichtner is the only one who's worth watching. Go gives him more room to play. "It's a good script—it's sick and demented enough to sink into and find the weirdness," he says. Which he managed to do with gusto. "Bill is amazing," Wolf recalls. "I tried to imitate some of the stuff he was doing, but it didn't work. He's on his own planet."

Nathan Bexton

Best known for: Nowhere and Dangerous Minds.

Breakthrough role in Go: Drug-addled teen who talks to cats.

Age: 20

Reason he'll be huge: He's young, talented, funny, good-looking.

Reason he won't be huge: He's going to appear in Children of the Corn, Part Six.

Bexton brings a sense of ease to the screen, an unusual quality in a young actor. In Go he has a wonderful scene with a talking cat who wants to eat his soul. It's that sort of movie.

Armed with a handheld camera, director Doug Liman has created a cult film complete with a hotel fire, tantric sex, a car chase, gun wounds, vegas, an extraheavy dose of E. Techno music, narcs with wires and two naturally cute women. It's bound to give you a rush

The bizarre striptease isn't about sex—he's checking to see if she is wearing a wire.