Assassination of a High School President

I had never heard of this movie and found it laying around in one of my friends large DVD collections. After reading the back I thought I would hate it. I don't know why I torture myself watching movies that I think are going to make me cry to the gods to stop people from making these horrible artsy films, but I do. It seemed like a low budget stylized sort of art film that managed to pull in some mid level stars and in aging one in Bruce Willis. Not my kind of film. I was wrong!(apparently ignoring my gut turns out to be a good idea, but usually it's still torture)

This was really a fun quirky, little movie that I actually enjoyed. The story is fairly sophomoric. A high school cheating scandal that the student newspaper, and the grizzled old war veteran Principal (Bruce Willis) are trying to get to the bottom of.

The acting in this one is admittedly over the top, but that is the strength of this movie. It is suppose to be over the top which provides the humor throughout. Mischa Barton plays the pretty girl, so that was no stretch, Bruce Willis's tough guy image works wonderfully for his character as well.

I won't get into the whole plot/ storyline as anyone can read it above, but it was a pleasantly surprising, humorous story that I would definitely recommend. I am usually not even into this kind of movie but I really enjoyed it. It was much better than sitting through another stupid Harry Potter movie that's for sure.

So if you find yourself bored with nothing to watch, pop this fun little gem in the DVD player. Its a fun one that I think is definitely underrated and worth a view.

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"The name's Bobby Funke...I write for the paper" as soon as this dialogue came up in the opening few minutes, I thought hmm...maybe this film would be interesting. As it turned out, after about 90 minutes from that time, I think it was an interesting film but not entirely. As ambiguous as this sounds, the film almost entirely was carried off by the good performance from its lead Reece Thompson. He was just about perfect for the role of Funke.

The pace of the film is very nice and the story{mystery} unveils nicely. Though predictable at times, the screenplay never gave up all its cards before the climax. The music was well suited and the side characters did their job well except for a few.

Now the biggest culprit is Mischa Barton. For some reason she was never convincing enough and always appeared very phony. Least to say she didn't immerse herself into the character. Though we all know she is not famous for her acting skills, she didn't put her 100% behind the role. For all her fans there is some good news...she shows off her boobs in this film.

Now, this film is no Oscar winner or a GEM or one of the best ever and I'm positive the film-maker never intended it to be BUT its quite enjoyable if you can look beyond Mischa Barton and to a small extent the predictability of the plot. I must add, it has quite a few funny moments. The dialogue is good at some instants and horrible at others.

"Assassination of a High School President" is a pleasant surprise: a high school noir comedy where the joke is how seriously it takes itself. It never leaves the classroom - nothing that happens in it is too ridiculous - but it maintains a consistent sense of epic importance that successfully subverts, and is subverted by, its own fairly mundane story. On that level it's sort of brilliant; we understand how important the events of the story are to the characters while never losing track of how comically meager they are to us, the seasoned moviegoers. Now, just reading that, I can't imagine a more effective way of representing secondary school.

The story is this: (wannabe) star reporter of the school newspaper Bobby Funke (Reece Thompson) gets a puff piece on student body president Paul More (Patrick Taylor) at the same time a stack of SATs are stolen right out of Principal Kirpatrick's (Bruce Willis) office. Kirpatrick appoints Bobby as his head investigator and it turns out the two stories are deeply connected. More than that I will not say, although keep in mind this film is closer to Wes Anderson than James M. Cain.

And another thing it isn't is Rian Johnson's "Brick." Its 2005 genre predecessor and "Miller's Crossing" rip-off, that was the film where Joseph Gordon-Levitt was a down-and-out student playing two high school gangs against each other. It's the movie this one has been most compared to, unfavourably, although the two are nothing alike. "Brick" was a film of dead weight, a leaden "drama" with aged and dreary characters and a story meant to confuse and depress you. It was a gangly, nearly incomprehensible movie that's gained cult status mainly, I think, because most of its fans don't understand it. It was a movie with a story and setting that never came together, and with a sensibility and technique more heavy-handed than the worst Hollywood message movie.

"Assassination" just wants to make you laugh, and, in the process, laugh off the petty issues that plague high school life (I can see it being almost therapeutic for kids facing those problems today). It sparkles with an understated wit and has a real atmosphere to it; with stylish, brooding cinematography and dialogue that's one third noirspeak and two thirds teenage dirty-mindedness. It never plays above or below its own maturity level, at once broadly funny and fiendishly clever.

It's also a showcase for a host of young actors who are likely to become the Steve Buscemis and Robert Downey Jr.'s of their generation. Reece Thompson is note-perfect as Bobby, a classically straightlaced gumshoe-in-training who can't seem to catch a break. He holds the movie on his back and shows some real star power. Taylor is hilarious as the air-headed president, and Bobby's three stoner friends - Tanya Fischer, Luke Grimes and Vincent Piazza - inject their scenes with a put-upon camaraderie. Mischa Barton, Adam Pally and Melonie Diaz also shine.

The old pro's have a lot of fun with the material: Willis, Kathryn Morris and Michael Rapaport. Willis is particularly strong as the scene-stealing principal. He's a deadly serious, tough-as-nails man who can't stop talking about his tour of duty in the Gulf War - perhaps not the most appropriate coaching technique for a group of adolescents. His dialogue is spotless, timing perfect and intensity - palpable. Every scene he appears in elevates the material to a heightened level of pulp/pop culture craziness; you almost can't believe that's actually Bruce Willis standing there, having so much fun, almost impersonating himself. I'd go so far as to say Willis deserves a Supporting Actor nomination for his work here.

It's an effective comedy and an interesting mystery. It has a lot of fun with its premise instead of sticking to it with an almost dutiful monogamy like "Brick" did. It's well-made enough to make its director, Brent Simon, someone to watch out for. It's not perfect, the conclusion lacks some umph, but that only makes sense considering the film's last line: "Forget it Bobby, it's High School." 8/10

It's the coming-of-age of a gum-chewing gumshoe, from geek to sleek, in the 'meanhalls' of the school that never sleeps. And as such, it's one hilarious genre-spoof that actually works on all levels, the kind that when you're not laughing out right you're grinning from ear to ear. I'd even say it drives a stake thru Twi'blight, especially in regards to the hyper-true-love-of-the-super-mature-movie-teens.

I loved the 'school as prison' backdrop- Shawshank meets Hamlet 2 sort of thing, but neither over-the-top nor under-fed. The bad guys are neither psychotic nor one-dimensional while the good guys (and gal), well, they're not angels and this, again, is pitch-perfect and so refreshing compared to the usual Hollywood polarization.. and kudos on the editing, the dialogue, the pace - everything really.

One questionable casting choice however is Mischa Barton. I can't seem to come up with a better alternative and she is OK but nothing more -as opposed to the rest of the cast. She seems to have some kind of acting-facial-paralysis, very noticeable in her last scene, and for her sake, I hope she learns to transcend this botox-haze she shares with Kirsten Dunst among others. But this is truly a minor (possible) blemish in an otherwise awesome little movie where the whodunnit is somewhat gratuitous but then, you wouldn't want it any other way.

A pretty fun movie, but I thought I'd take the time to point out something that apparently all the other reviewers have missed. this, to me, is pretty much a Brick rip-off. which is not to say it's a bad movie, as often if you pick a good movie to copy, you can end up with a good film yourself. But definitely, if you haven't seen Brick, do so. It's the same "hard-boiled" patter and convoluted connections that make up the high-school drama. Only Brick is way tougher, more intelligent, and a lot more heartbreaking.

Once again, I really like Assassination of a High School President. Although I would never recommend it to someone without making sure they've seen Brick first.