L'assassinat du président de l'école

"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

ASSASSINATION OF A HIGH SCHOOL PRESIDENT is a big step above most of the teen movies that focus on potty mouth dialogue and absurd situations just to get laughs. Writers Tim Calpin and Kevin Jakubowski have come up with a script that is sometimes smart but ultimately full of holes in deciding where it wants to take the original premise of this high school movie. Director Brett Simon seems to sort of let the movie flow as it develops, preventing a tight telling of a story with potential.

Bobby Funke (Reece Thompson, a promising new talent) is a nerdy newspaper reporter who is never able to finish a story. Student Body President/basketball star/ladies' man Paul Moore (Patrick Taylor) seems to have everything Bobby wants, including the attention of the school's most beautiful girl Francesca (Mischa Barton). As fortune would have it a crime happens - the SATs are stolen from the office of Principal Kirkpatrick (Bruce Willis playing Bruce Willis) and Booby is on the investigation and story, a story that points to Paul as the perpetrator. Bobby's nerdiness is transformed by his attention and by the affections of Francesca, and soon the school collapses under the cloud of the crime. It is how the 'crime' is inspected and resolved that ends the film. For Bobby Funke it is a matter of 'What price glory'.

The cast is fresh and it is a pleasure to see some new faces with promise. Whether it is the director's or the sound mixer's fault, much of the dialogue is swallowed by the soundtrack, a problem thankfully solved by turning on the subtitles. This is a movie with promise from all involved and it will be interesting to see if it has an impact on teen flick quality.

Grady Harp

High School. Four of the most important years of your life. But it isn't always dances and keg parties and sucking face in your parents' mini-van. Sometimes it's ugly and hard and complicated. As complicated as a conspiracy to overthrow the president. There's something rotten at St. Donovan's High and sophomore newspaper reporter Bobby Funke is on it like pink rubber bands on your little sister's braces. When senior hottie Francesca Facchini solicits Funke's help tracking down a set of stolen SATs, Funke uncovers a story dirtier than the lunch lady's mustache. After he fingers the school president (figuratively) for the crime, Funke becomes one of the most popular kids at St. Donovan's High. No longer known simply as the freshman who was once tied to a giant snowman penis, Funke wins the respect of everyone from the Desert-Storm-hero-turned-educator Principal Kirkpatrick to the kid that farts on him in Spanish class. When Francesca takes Funke to homecoming, even the in-school suspension delinquents turn nice and offer guidance on how to keep his boner in check during slow dances. But high school's not always what it seems. As Funke's popularity grows so do his suspicions. Did the president really steal the SATs? Or is Funke just a pawn in a conspiracy as complicated as adolescence itself? Determined to find the truth, Funke digs deeper and unearths the sordid underbelly of St. Donovan's. Student council members, college bookies, public school brats, everyone seems to play a part. Armed only with a learner's permit and the spirit of Woodward and Bernstein, Funke must crack the case before it cracks him...Assassination of a High School President is a high school noir comedy with a good performance by its lead actor, Reece Thompson but besides this performance there's not much here worth seeing. Although the film does create a mysterious and tense atmosphere, the effort to do so is constantly undermined by ridiculous jokes and ridiculous characters that basically turn the film into a parody.The story unveils nicely but at the same time, it's not that interesting and it's definitely not original.Bruce Willis who plays the Principal, overacts during his entire screen time and fails miserably at being the comic relief and Misha Barton seems to have lost all her acting-skills since leaving The O.C.. Definitely not worth seeing, but if you really want to watch a film-noir with a high school setting, watch Brick(2005),a much more interesting, and better written film.

5.5/10

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.

I'd been resisting watching this movie mainly because of Mischa Barton but thankfully a trailer for the movie convinced me otherwise or else I'd have missed this little gem.

For me this movie was a neat satire of several types of movie settings. It's a mystery through and through but it satirizes styles such as 1940s detective noir, prison dramas, conspiracy theories, and high school movies. And it does it well to a certain extent.

The movie is not perfect- it's not that well polished and I felt that some of the actors were a little to laid back but it's a little nitpick. The tone of the mystery was well maintain throughout with subplots and little twisters popping along to keep the movie going. Sure the mystery wasn't mystery-proof...you could guess where it was heading before it happened but it was still a fun ride.

The performances were decent, not brilliant, but not over the top. Mischa Barton was the sole sore point- she didn't really do anything with her bad girl character. Perhaps it may be because she wasn't given much screen time but in that case why have her. The movie wasn't going to be a must see for everyone in any case and any no name fledgling, and better looking, actress could have done an able job. Still, I'm biased against her so I still maintain she sucked and brought the movie down a little.

I'd still recommend this movie as it worth watching- the mystery is great- who stole the SAT sheets and it's fun watching Bobby Funke try to meander his way to the truth, much like a roving ace reporter, and there's never a dull moment.