Might contain spoilers.
This is an odd movie. It doesn't really work because it tries to do too much with too little, or is it too little with too much. However the good far outweighs the bad. The original often outweighing the contrived. It seems to constantly osculate between those various extremes, never finding a solid footing.
I can usually tell in the first five minutes if I am going to last for the whole movie. With CB, it was clear I was sticking around for at least 30 minutes. It looked fresh and felt energetic.
It also became clear early on that the DVD would have no deleted scenes. They used everything they had to pad it out to 90 minutes. Some of those scenes were too forced.
There were many things that were really not great, like Charlie wearing his private school blazer to public school. What kid with 1/2 a clue would do that? I love Hope Davis, but her role as the clueless rich mother often seemed too contrived. "Oh look she's rich and doesn't get how normal people live". The principal's break down at the end where he is shooting up his pool seemed really out of character. First of all they really didn't work him up as being a sloppy drunk, more of a closet drinker. Second of all, even when he was supposedly really drunk, he was a crack shot, never missing one of his model boats. The sex scene seemed really unbelievable. Anton Whatever was quite good, a bit over the top in a few spots (which in some spots was due to the script), but managed to find the right balance most of the time. He's got more range than just being Bird Hoffstad.
It is a frustrating movie because I wanted to either like it more or dislike it more. Overall the movie worked. It puttered along well, keeping me engaged for the full 90 minutes; the padded scenes ending soon enough. There were many great scenes and many funny moments. In that way it succeeds were many similar films fail. This is one worth watching. If you are one who approaches teen movies with low expectations, you probably will be pleasantly surprised. I was.
I think this one will age well. When it comes on a TMC type channel in 2038, it will be one of those unexpectedly really great movies you stumble on that nobody ever heard of.
This is an odd movie. It doesn't really work because it tries to do too much with too little, or is it too little with too much. However the good far outweighs the bad. The original often outweighing the contrived. It seems to constantly osculate between those various extremes, never finding a solid footing.
I can usually tell in the first five minutes if I am going to last for the whole movie. With CB, it was clear I was sticking around for at least 30 minutes. It looked fresh and felt energetic.
It also became clear early on that the DVD would have no deleted scenes. They used everything they had to pad it out to 90 minutes. Some of those scenes were too forced.
There were many things that were really not great, like Charlie wearing his private school blazer to public school. What kid with 1/2 a clue would do that? I love Hope Davis, but her role as the clueless rich mother often seemed too contrived. "Oh look she's rich and doesn't get how normal people live". The principal's break down at the end where he is shooting up his pool seemed really out of character. First of all they really didn't work him up as being a sloppy drunk, more of a closet drinker. Second of all, even when he was supposedly really drunk, he was a crack shot, never missing one of his model boats. The sex scene seemed really unbelievable. Anton Whatever was quite good, a bit over the top in a few spots (which in some spots was due to the script), but managed to find the right balance most of the time. He's got more range than just being Bird Hoffstad.
It is a frustrating movie because I wanted to either like it more or dislike it more. Overall the movie worked. It puttered along well, keeping me engaged for the full 90 minutes; the padded scenes ending soon enough. There were many great scenes and many funny moments. In that way it succeeds were many similar films fail. This is one worth watching. If you are one who approaches teen movies with low expectations, you probably will be pleasantly surprised. I was.
I think this one will age well. When it comes on a TMC type channel in 2038, it will be one of those unexpectedly really great movies you stumble on that nobody ever heard of.