Public Schooled

Coming of age high school movies are a well worn staple of the movie industry. Some are great (The Breakfast Club), others are not so much (Ladybird - great acting, but little new or fresh).

This film is funny, different, fresh, and interesting. The home schooled kid and his relationship with his mom are unlike anything else. The cliches of such movies are avoided, and in their place is just a pretty neat story. It won't win any Academy Awards, but is a great show to watch. Enjoy.

This film tells the story of a very protective mother who home schools her son. Her son decides to meet friends by going to a public school.

Though the film is fun and light hearted, the idea of having such a protective and controlling mother really disturbs me. Judy Greer does a good job as the mother, and Daniel Doheny is great as a shy young man. Overall, if the mother is less freakishly and disturbingly controlling, I would have liked it more.

First thing, there are several types of homeschooled people, and yes.... People like Liam exist which is why this movie was hilarious for me to watch. I was homeschooled for a little bit of time, and let me telllll youuuu! The awkwardness of overprotective mothers is totally real and creepy! Come on, prom with mom? Yes ssss. Anyways, for those who know people who were homeschooled and fit the description of those in the movie...and or was homeschooled and are normal, You'll understand. :)

Judy Greer is a star. It would've been a decent teenage movie but she took it to another level and it's really enjoyable to watch. The humor is cute throughout and I laughed out loud a couple of times. Can't remember the last time it happened.

Claire (Judy Greer) is the overprotective single mom of teenager Liam Heap (Daniel Doheny). She is dismissive of public high schools and has been homeschooling Liam everything including sex. He is book smart and headed for Cambridge to study Astrophysics following his hero Stephen Hawking. MacKenzie (Grace Park) is a fellow homeschool mom and Autumn is her even weirder daughter. The kids are at the local high school to take the Graduation Equivalency Exam. Liam falls for public school student, the one-legged Anastasia (Siobhan Williams) and deliberately tanks his test. He pushes his way to be a temporary student taking over sick Maria Sanchez's schedule. Everyone starts calling him Maria. Claire sees this as teenage rebellion and decides to teach it as part of his curriculum.

This is quirky and sometimes funny. Judy Greer is one of the best comedic actresses around. Daniel Doheny is a nice lead but he looks way too good. If anything, this needs more quirkiness. He needs to look nerdier. In general, the whole movie needs more. I love the premise but it needs to shoot for Napoleon Dynamite. There is plenty of potential of achieving that. There is a shocking surreal moment with a fetal pig well into the movie. It needs to do more and earlier or not at all. Either inanimate objects talk to him or they don't. For the students, Siobhan is a great ingenue but the others are lacking. It would have been great if Autumn joined Liam to attend high school. The gay friend needs to be more friend and less annoying. The bully needs to be more buff and younger. He looks like a 80s porn star with a 70s stach. Also, there is a general use of 80s motif like an old computer and an old family car which creates an odd feel in the modern world. The off-centre camera style is also part of that. The lighting is too bright at the school. The editing needs to be sharper and quicker to add pace and quirkiness to the style. It needs to be tighter which would shorten the under ninety minutes running time. The movie needs a few more stories and that's why I would love some more from Autumn. Quite frankly, MacKenzie is fun at the party and the movie needs more of her. There are many very good parts and this works on the whole.