Stay Cool

There was very little to like about this movie. The two biggest problems were the main character, who had zero charisma, and the cringy relationship between a 37 year old man and an 18 year old high school student.

Mark Polish might be a fine actor, although I can't think of anything he's done that I remember seeing. But in this movie he was dull. I didn't feel anything for his character and I honestly couldn't care about him or his problems. His performance was the acting equivalent of watching grass grow.

The second problem was his relationship with Hillary Duff's character. First of all, why was he hanging out at the high school every day? He was just there to give the commencement speech. Does that require you to go to class when you graduated 20 years ago? Anyway, the whole "high school girl falls for an inappropriate older man" could have been entertaining and funny. Instead, even though he never acted on it, you get the feeling that he would have been happy to, if he wasn't worried about the scandal. The whole thing was creepy!

Winona Ryder was pretty bad as well, and Sean Aston's take on a gay character was far from Oscar worthy. In fact, nearly the entire cast was uninspiring, which is sad because this movie had some well known actors.

I would have rated this a 1 star movie, except that Hillary Duff actually did a good job. Her character stole the show. The music was also good, but there's no way I could give this turd more than 3 stars!

This a particularly dreary Rom Com from the days of endless awful Rom Coms. The lead/writer is pathetic, its like everyone feels sorry for him. Otherwise, this is the sort of project agents get their struggling has been clients, like Chevy Chase, Winona Ryder, Sean Astin, etc.,

Was this a tax write-off?

For Winona Ryder fans, this could be a nice movie. This is the story of a successful novelist, who returns to his home to give a graduation speech. Even when none in his town (including his parents and friend) actually read the book. He still obsessed with his old high-school crush Scarlet (Winona Ryder) who is separated from the aggressive Gym Class Coach (Marc Blucas). A 17 years old, and daughter of fellow classmates, student Shasta (Hillary Duff) is attracted to him. And every thing gets wrong. This could be a wonderful comedy. Winona Ryder shines in every appearance and supporting roles by TV stars John Cryer, Frances O'Connor, Marc Blucas and Josh Holloway helps a lot. Even Duff is convincing. And John Austin could be hilarious if he could share some chemistry with the co-producer, co-writer and co-director Mark Polish.

Unfortunately Polish performance is the big main flaw of the movie. It's a pity that with many good Americans comedian this uncharismatic and grey guy has the lead.

The script is not that bad, and the last part of the movie is actually very good, touchy, very nostalgic, very 80s. With a better comedian like Paul Rudd or Jason Bateman could be an indie smash hit.

Chevy Chase should be replace also by another TV comedian in his 60s.-

If you read the critics reviews, you'll believe this film is just dribble. In fact, it's a very deep film delving into the high school memories of Henry McCarthy. It's a story about going back to the roots of ones hometown and facing the reality of what time has brought.

It's a very relatable film and story for many who were underdogs in high school. The cast was exceptional, especially Winona Ryder and Chevy Chase who are usually in low rated films nowadays. The story is very well written for an almost unknown underrated film. It's definitely enjoyable and will bring up familiar memories of your own high school days.

Which could be a description of the main character ... not. There is quite a bit of suspend of disbelieve here, but there is also quite a bit of realness in it too. The mix is done pretty good and the actors are amazing too. It's nice to see Wynona in a decent role again (if you don't count the short Star Trek thing).

Then again, after watching the TV show Lost, I can't help but seeing those guys everywhere. And there is actually one of them here. I guess he did the movie in-between, as a relaxing exercise. Next for this Dude? Mission Impossible (4), if IMDb has it right on his site. The main actor is not really that engaging, but he does a good job portraying the man he is supposed to be. A decent effort and a movie that will "click" with a few people more than it does with others (no that's not a Lost reference!)