Assassination Of A High
School President (2008/Sony DVD)
Picture: C+ Sound:
B- Extra: C- Film: D
Brett
Simon’s Assassination Of A High School President (2008) may have a
provocative title, but it is the same old thing we have seen over and over
again about how bad and tough even a better high school can be. However, the Tim Calpin/Kevin Jakubowski
screenplay is an absolute wreck trying so hard to be hip that it backfires
spectacularly and oh, they forgot to put a story in there worth 93 minutes, or
even 23 minutes.
The two
biggest mistakes are to have protagonist Bobby Funke (Reece Daniel Thompson)
have endless voice over to the point that this might as well be bad animated
radio. This is the worst case of
overkill and overbearing voiceover in recent memory to the point of being smug
and embarrassing. Add the purposely
crude dialogue so stupid that it becomes darkly sick in the worst ways and
nobody talks or thinks like this unless they are total idiots.
Willis is
actually good with what little he is given to work with as a tough principal,
stealing what few scenes he has, but Mischa Barton and Michael Rapaport turn up
and they cannot save this catastrophe either.
Too bad, because we are long overdue for a good high school film, but
this is definitely not it. And this gets so petty between the
underdeveloped characters that you hope everyone gets expelled. What a dud!
The
anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image is on the soft side, partly because of
the transfer and also by the choice of fiddling with the image too much, but we
have seen worse in this respect. The
Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is the default highlight here with good dialogue
recording, though too many vocal songs are thrown into the mix with little
point. Extras include trailers for other
Sony releases, optional commentary on alternate opening, extended,
other alternate and deleted scenes, plus a full length audio commentary by
Simon.
Even there, he just can’t stop the talking from going on
and on and on and on. Next time, rest,
concentrate and try to make a good film, if you ever get the chance again.
- Nicholas Sheffo
