A Matter of Degrees 1990

As a baby in a playpen, Max Glass screams when his parents hint that happiness might mean a legal career. Fast forward twenty years, and he’s a graduating senior at an unnamed college in Providence, Rhode Island, adrift and unsure of what comes next. He rebels against the idea of law school and recoils at a Columbia University acceptance letter that lands like a verdict, pushing him into an existential crisis about his path in life.

Max is a fairly indifferent student who shares a cramped dorm with two quirky roommates — Kate Blum, [Judith Hoag], and Zeno Stefanos, [Tom Sizemore] — weaving in and out of a campus culture that thrives on music and mischief. He spends most of his time at the college’s progressive rock radio station, WXOX, where he hangs out with his friend Wells Dennard, [Wendell Pierce], among other DJs like Moonboy, [Fred Schneider], and Bambi, [Kate Pierson]. WXOX’s founder and main DJ, Peter Downs, [John Doe], is a local hero to Max, a beacon of rebellious energy in a world pressuring him toward conformity. The station sits on a delicate block of land that developers want to raze, threatening not just the studio but the community around it. Peter initially fights back against the pressure, but eventually leaves town, worn down by the unstoppable forces closing in.

Max’s fight against the developers grows bolder and more reckless, drawing the ire of the college administration and jeopardizing his chance to graduate. His personal life gets tangled when he has a brief affair with Lisa, [Margaret Stassa], an encounter that brings police attention and further complicates his already turbulent year.

Meanwhile, Wells and Kate participate in the commencement celebration, but Max hijacks the moment by taking over WXOX and broadcasting his anti-corporate, anti-establishment message to the campus and beyond. The moment culminates in a simple, stubborn declaration that echoes through his life: > Rock and roll can save you. <

The film follows Max’s audacious stance, the uneasy symbiosis between art and commerce, and the uneasy peace of a future that remains uncertain. In the shadows of the radio waves and the looming threat of redevelopment, Max’s world is a mix of loud music, small rebellions, and a search for meaning that refuses to be quieted. The finale leaves Max inside the station’s studio, the next steps of his life hanging in the balance, and a question still unanswered: what comes after the music?