Answer This!

This film, set on the campus of the University of Michigan, makes the U look as good as it really is. Yes, I'm an alum, so I'm biased, but the story is well written, the cast well-chosen, and the direction excellent. The minor revelation of a secret identity is a great way to end this film. The professor who plays the father of the story's lead is an actual professor (now emeritus). He is held in high esteem by the many students whose lives he touched. It was a stroke of genius to build this role around him. Then, again, maybe it was so obvious, it wasn't genius at all. The film captures the procrastination and angst so many doctoral candidates suffer as they try to complete their theses. If you ever went there, you'll identify with this film. If you ever attended or visited the University of Michigan or wanted to, you'll find that aspect alone worth the trip to Answer This!

I was fortunate enough to attend the world premiere screening of Answer This! at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor last October, and since then I have been waiting for the film to be picked up for wider distribution. Wrekin Hill Entertainment has picked up Answer This!, and to celebrate that, there was another red carpet premiere screening at the Emagine Royal Oak this past Thursday, October 13. I was interested in seeing if the distributors had made any changes to the movie, and if they had, they are little; however, the movie was just as good as I remembered it.

As a graduate student working to complete her thesis I absolutely loved this movie. So much of my life was working towards this goal of having my masters but the afterwards of it all wasn't figured out. Not to mention I love bar trivia. This movie is I guess a "coming of age film" it's the perfect film for those in their twenties who have done everything "right" but still don't have things figured out. Besides the storyline the movie is filled with likable characters, a well-written script, and a fantastic score that will delight almost everyone. Christopher Gorham shines as a nerdy but charming TA that is struggling to find himself while being pressured by his father to follow in his foot steps. Give this movie a chance and it will surprise you.

This is the academic equivalent of a movie where a big time college football coach raises his son to be a quarterback. The son thinks that this is what he wants, but it doesn't make him happy; so he looks to find something to make him happy -- in this case trivia contests and a disturbingly underage girl.

The football coach equivalent dad is a wonderful character, who is a non-actor, real college professor, who basically plays his real life self. His performance alone is worth the price of admission.

The movie portrays something which I haven't seen on the screen before, but which is something which goes on a lot in real world university campuses. Borderline sexual predation by a very mature graduate student, teaching assistant, and an incoming college freshman, straight out of high school. The movie raises just the right amount of discomfiture, but avoids overt creepiness by showing that the girl is much more mature and worldly-wise than is the older man. Ultimately, she controls their relationship, not he.

Along the way, there is gorgeous cinematography of a real Midwestern college town in autumn and several legitimate laugh out loud moments. The most formulaic moment is the ending -- directly inspired by Good Will Hunting, it would appear.

I'd give it 3 stars out of 4 -- since it's a movie about academia, a solid B+.

• Larry Weisenthal/Huntington Beach CA

When I sat down here in 2024 to watch the 2011 movie "Answer This!", I assumed that I was in for a comedy, as the movie was labeled as a comedy. However, it turns out that the movie was rather devoid of fun and comedy. So talk about a disappointment from writer and director Christopher Farah.

The storyline told in the movie was more of a light-hearted drama with light elements of comedy, but without the ability to get the audience to laugh. It wasn't quite what I was expecting, that's for sure.

The only familiar face on the screen, for me, was actor Chris Parnell. It should be noted that the acting performances in "Answer This!" were fair.

This was definitely not my cup of tea, and I found very little entertainment and enjoyment in the movie. This is definitely not a movie that I would recommend people to spend their time, money or effort on. Nor is it a movie that will ever finds it way back to my screen a second time.

My rating of writer and director Christopher Farah's 2011 movie "Answer This!" lands on a three out of ten stars.