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I just saw HIGH School last night at the Edinburgh International Film Festival last night. I'd been prepared to have it be a guilty pleasure at best, but it is actually a pretty tautly-written piece of comedy which I can unashamedly say I thoroughly enjoyed. The premise is that a straight-A student, having smoked his first joint in the company of his weed-loving friend, discovers that the school's principal intends to hold a mandatory drug test for all students. Typical stoner logic comes into play: if they can make sure that everyone fails the test, then they will be in the clear: and the school bake sale coincides with the testing day... The film may appeal to those who departed school more recently on the level of direct nostalgia, and will doubtless become a popular "lets get stoned and watch a movie" choice. But it appealed to me less in terms of some timeless, high school experience (frankly, the crossover between that of the US and rural Scotland is on a pretty abstract level) than as an homage to the teen movies of the 80s: there is a janitor/detention scene where even the dialogue is a pretty clear reference to the Breakfast Club, for instance, and Curtis Armstrong, one of the cast of Brickman's Risky Business, makes a return as a teacher. I fully expect to find Shermer, Illinois references dotted around when I watch the DVD, while Principal Gordon would get on very well with Ferris Bueller's Ed Rooney. The movie isn't yet another America Pie-style teen movie, being pretty light on the cringe-inducing and gross-out elements. And with only a single fart joke and no references to poo poo that I can remember, it's not purestrain Kevin Smith, either (although the dialogue is rather View Askew at times, and both directors share a stated affection for Hughes). Different in story and theme, HIGH School is a little like Kick rear end in tone: while its treatment of the major characters is pretty gentle, I did occasionally find myself laughing out loud and feeling a little guilty at the same time. Oscar winner Adrien Brody turns in a cracking performance, but Bush and Marquette, despite being in their twenties, are consistently convincing and entertaining as the wound-up Burke and the stoner Breaux, respectively. I must have laughed out loud twenty times, and I intend to see the film again when it goes on general release in early 2011: 5/5.
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Jun 24, 2010 09:53
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 12:52 |
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