Released: April 29th, 2011
Starring: Aimee Teegarden, Thomas McDonell, DeVaugh Nixon, Danielle Campbell, Nolan A. Sotillo
Writer/Director: Katie Wech/Joe Nussbaum
Description: A group of teenagers get ready for their high school prom.
[Review may contain spoilers. Please watch movie before reading, unless you don't care. Most of these films have already been released for a while, so they should be readily available.]
***
There's usually a bit of embarrassment I feel whenever I watch a TV show or movie from the teen/high school genre. I can usually defend it because for everyone melodramtic moment there a equal and opposite realistic moment. But Disney's take is a little too much, even for me.
"Prom" takes everything that could be realistic and cool about a movie featuring high school kids, and turns it into a film that causes eye rolling for the entire running length. It follows the story of a group students from Brookside High School in a WASP-y suburb where lacrosse is king.
If the movie was turned off in the first five minutes, the average movie watcher should be able to predict the rest of the movie. It's textbook high school drama: smart girl ends up with other side of the tracks guy, arragont jock sees his entire world crumble, and shy nice guy gets the beautiful girl he loves after a heartfelt plea. These themes can be written with some heart and realism, but Disney made it so sugar-sweet that my teeth hurt while watching it. For Christ-sake, the prom's theme was Starry Night. Ow (grabs mouth).
I realize what I'm getting when I watch this genre, but at some point, you have to stop completely lying to the audience. Sure, there's a chance of some kind of fairytale ending, but not every good character will have one. The best example from "Prom" is that the shy kid, Lucas (Sotillo), didn't need to end up with the girl. An ending of just him and his best friend enjoying the concert would have been good enough. The genre is unrealistic as it is, with some many pretty people in one high school, but please stop giving teen girls unattainable dreams for their proms; it's hard enough as a high school boy.
Aimee Teegarden leads the cast of mostly unknown young actors, as Disney tried to recreate the same magic they got from the "High School Musical". Teegarden is way over-qualified for the role, and for those that have seen the TV version of "Friday Night Lights", we know how good of an actress she can and will be. There were points in the movie, especially the peppy moments, where you could tell she was trying not to read her lines sarcastically. But she added a sense of credibility during her dramatic scenes that was absent from every other moment in the movie.
The only other possible future star in this film is Danielle Campbell, who played Simone. Besides Teegarden, she was the only other actor who didn't over exaggerate her emotions, her choices felt natural. She's one to look out for in this genre. Also, it doesn't hurt that she has stunning natural beauty.
"Prom" is a fairy tale version of a fairy tale movie. Disney went out of their way to make it family friendly, and that is what makes today's youth feel so entitled. It also gives the genre a bad name, even "High School Musical", as absurd as it is, gives a better representation of the genre. I will defend teen dramas when they are done well as is the case with "One Tree Hill", "O.C.", "Freaks and Geeks" and "Dawson's Creek", but when the entire movie is fluff, I can't stand behind it, no matter how gorgeous Aimee Teegarden is.
Rating: 4.5/10 -- Probably shouldn't be viewed by anyone under the age of 14, or male. Teegarden tries her best to carry the movie, but she's just not experienced enough yet. For comparison purposes, the Disney Channel movie, "Lemon Mouth", is more well done than this movie, and that didn't cost $8 million dollars to make.
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