Doce Argumento

I was actually enjoying this but had to switch off because of the relentless background which was really distracting and gave me an ear worm long after the film. Clearly it was aimed at making it quirkier but it was the same tune rehashed over and over and it drowned out the performances, which was a shame as the two young leads were very engaging. I wish they wouldn't add music to everything and just trust the performances to carry the film.

This is a cute coming of age store about two very competitive teens in their senior year of high school. Bennett wants to get into Yale, Lona wants Harvard, and both are very good at debate. Their rivalry gets in their own way however and they must learn to work together... somehow.

This movie doesn't try to be more than what it is, a cute story about teenagers falling in love, about growing up, about the pressures of getting into colleges. But rapid dialogue and cute chemistry make this very enjoyable and fun to watch.

Sweet and Smart, part love story, part life lessons Candy Jar is a charmer. A nice turn for both Jacob Latimore (The Chi), and Sami Gayle (Hateship/Loveship), who discover they are greater than the sum of their parts as they vie for a state championship in debate that could lead to admittance into their dream colleges. Light-hearted fare that definitely satisfies your sweet tooth.

My initial draw to this film was that these two characters would be debating with all the intense energy high schoolers are known for. That's a real feat to pull off well, the split second timing and in and outs of the debate topic. Turns out that this kind of 'debate' is based on READING your research as fast as you can for 8 minutes, there was no real debate, very annoying to listen to, and there was no real demonstration of their brillian minds, we have to take that on faith. Huge disappointment, and gave very little for the film to run on.

Other than that, it's your typical story of boy and girl that don't like each other until they fall for each other, and over achievers that spend all their time studying, and realize what they've been missing out on their life. Wasn't worth the time to watch. I think these actors had it in them to pull of real debates, but the creator / scriptwriters took the easy way out.

Lona and Bennett have been competing since kindergarten, maybe egged by their mothers who seem to have some issues that need to be resolved. And now college is beckoning them - Havard - or Yale - or not. Partly to look good on their CVs they are in the school debate club. But here everything gets very strange as competitive debating seems to have degenerated into a kind of bizarre speed talking contest in which points of evidence are made so fast that scarcely anyone understands.

Lona and Bennett are in some ways hugely similar and in others diametrically opposed so boy - girl, black - white, but both with single mothers, both geeks, bookworms, loners, and both very much attached to Kathy, a school counselor whose room is filled with the candy jars that give the film its title.

It's an unusual idea but it makes the film fresh and different. For me, the nonsensical debating process was a bit of a distraction, but maybe the very fact that we don't understand what they're struggling to achieve, let alone the actual arguments they make, maybe that helps us focus on them and how they matter more.