Contest

I saw this film at the Mill Valley Film Festival and loved it. It's well-crafted and well-acted, and I think kids will actually enjoy watching it. I say this as someone who works with kids as a librarian in a K-8 school. It has all the components: appealing characters, dramatic moments, and a satisfying conclusion. All in all, a very nice story arc that will hold the viewers' interest and leave the door open for discussion. The movie's greatest strength was in the way the relationship between the three leads developed over time. It provided a more nuanced view of bullying, taking into account that the bully is usually someone who has been bullied himself. The cast of young actors were all appealing and talented. I imagine we'll be seeing more of them. The sound track is also excellent. After watching so many mindless (or violent) films for kids, it's refreshing to watch something that succeeds in getting a positive message across without being didactic or clichéd.

I was beyond impressed with this movie. I knew before seeing it that it carried an anti-bullying message, but I wasn't prepared for just how inventive the messages would be made in the film. It seemed like so many of the characters in the movie had been bullied in ways large or small, and some were the bullies themselves. I got the impression the creators of the film really wanted to highlight the complexities of the issue, how it's not easy to just find one person completely guilty and the rest innocent, or vice versa. Really well done! I was also extremely impressed with how funny the movie was! At totally unexpected moments, I found myself laughing hysterically. Great acting, great story, great movie! Well done to all involved, and thanks for giving the world a new anti-bullying movie that's far from the cookie cutter expectations of the past!

I believe this was shown on Cartoon Network in the USA and its aimed at the tweenage audience that the Disney channels do well aiming at.

Tommy seems to be a perennial bullying victim at High School but his tormentor Matt under the threat of suspension befriends him and joins him to enter a cooking contest where Tommy could earn enough money to save his grandmother's pizza shop.

Matt's brother Kyle is cooking a deal where the pizza shop is part of a redevelopment plan and gets his brother, Matt to sabotage the competition. However it seems Matt and Tommy might have bonded but Tommy's friend Sarah is suspicious.

The is a lot of double dealing going on in the plot and some of the characters are flawed so its not all black and white but my word this film is giving mixed messages.

The High School needs to be closed down given how much bullying goes on there, it needed to build its own hospital wing to treat its victims.

At the end of the film one of the characters who has cynically sabotaged, hurt people, manipulated people seemed to have faced no consequences of his actions. A strange outcome for film with an anti bullying message.

Some of the acting is fine, some of its broad. Its a low budget film but the script lacks polish and it would had been more focused if he Disney channel had made it.

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.

You'll find a number of familiar faces from the small screen in the film Contest which was made as part of an anti-bullying initiative. It's a decent effort, but sad to say the main reason, the main taunt that bullies use was never in the film. That is that pejorative beginning with the letter "F" referring to sexual orientation. That in itself makes this an inferior product.

In this film young Danny Flaherty is the target of the jocks in his high school specifically the swim team who love to toss him in the pool as he can't swim. The leader of the bullying and the swim team is Kenton Duty.

However one day Duty is caught in the act and is given a choice, expulsion and curtailment of his athletic activities or befriend Flaherty and head an anti-bullying initiative. Duty calls and Duty chooses.

But Kenton is raised by older brother Kyle Dean Massey who has his own reasons for wanting this to fail. Flaherty's grandmother who raises him owns a pizzeria that someone wants her out of. It's where Flaherty has learned to cook and he's entered a cooking contest where the winner receives $50,000.00 and TV show entitled TV chef. Flaherty has a team of four for the contest and Duty is part of his team.

It goes without saying that when the two are thrown together even though Kenton is initially thinking of sabotaging Flaherty's efforts, eventually he and Flaherty bond in a unique way.

What can you say about a film that totally ignores the chief reason for bullying in school, real or perceived gayness. Maybe had Flaherty been made a gay character this film might have had some bite to it. But I suspect the producers didn't want to hear from religious right.

Contest, a sincere but very weak film.