Contest

This film devotes itself to a series of increasingly unbelievable escalations that are more about out-of-school criminal behavior than about school-bully problems. The theme is endearing, but the delivery is way, way off-topic. Worse, a fair amount of this movie seems almost comedic, which makes it hard to be sure sometimes just whom to feel sorry for.

The script was hard to follow and the direction literally seemed to leave out moments that one had to infer or guess at. Our twelve-year-old son kept asking questions that started with, "Wait! Why did he just say...?" An amazing number of characters are played by actors who look rather a lot like each other, too, so it wasn't always even clear who was whom.

Overall, this wasn't really a story about bullying. It seemed more like an episode of one of those cookie-cutter Disney Channel shows that all seem to star the same adolescent kids, with an unconvincing set of problems dealt with by absurd solutions, all coming together in a silly ending.

If you're looking for a way to connect with your child about this topic, I really would stay away from this one. It unintentionally makes light of a serious issue, and confuses the phenomenon of bullying with complex (and over-the-top) criminal conspiracies. If you even suggest to your child that bullying is similar in school to what it is in this movie, expect to hear the words, "You just don't get it."

Good family movie about bullying in high school. The cast of young folk all were great! It plays like an after school special, which in my mind is a good thing. I still remember the ones I was shown as a kid in the 70's and 80's. One thing that stood out to me was the lack of a mean girl focus. These kinds of story lines seem to leave the boy friendships in the background and focus on the girls.

Most impressed with the soundtrack. Katherine McNamara, Kenton Duty, And Daniel Flaherty all have amazing songs! Daniel sounds like a young Bob Dylan and Katherine's voice is beautiful and I understand she co-wrote the song.

High school student Tommy (Daniel Flaherty) is bullied by Matt (Kenton Duty). He's laughed at by all the kids. He lives with his Gran (Mary Beth Peil) and works at her pizzeria. He overhears the landlord wanting to level the whole block around the pizzeria but Gran would have the first right to buy. He decides to enter a cooking contest to save the place. Meanwhile, Matt is facing suspension and even expulsion for the bullying. He is given a special deal to be an anti-bullying advocate. He is convinced to assist Tommy in his contest and then sabotage it by his brother Kyle although Kyle has reasons of his own. Kyle is part of the property deal to level the pizzeria. Tommy has a crush on Sarah O'Malley (Katherine McNamara).

The production is limited indie. There are some solid actors in the cast. Aside from the minor roles played by amateurs, the main cast is experienced. While I appreciate the attempted story, the writing is ragged and there are some badly written turns. The dialogue and the flow need a few more passes. Mostly, the directing is amateurish. Anthony Joseph Giunta doesn't have much experience and it shows on the screen. It's a fair debut effort but it does not inspire confidence in future endeavors.

Message movies can be a bore but not contest. A good cast and a refreshing twist on encouraging positive behavior with a very timely cooking contest at the core Contest is like a sports movie with food! As in most sports movies you may well guess the ending, but you may be surprised, and the journey is with it.

Young actors and a fresh group go filmmakers make this a new entry that will hopefully reach the target audience. This is a good film for families to see together. But as teenagers and young adults may balk at that prospect parents can be comfortable with this as a date night special for their teenagers. The cast is attractive and the romance angle is well played. Contest delivers a message without being preachy and that is very welcome.

Contest is an entertaining and satisfying look into the bully and the bullied. The rolls of, and the exchanges between characters are eye-opening portrayals of everyday people that I knew growing up. I think everyone knows and can identify with a character in the story that represents the feelings they had as a youth or adolescent... along with the awkward, confusing yet often beautiful emotions that they conjure. I wish this movie were around when my kids were younger, as I feel they could have benefited from seeing it. If you have teenagers, try to get this in front of them. It would be helpful, I believe, to show this film on a class-wide or school-wide level so kids could watch it together.