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I’m a
huge fan of pretty
much everything
Disney does… except
for the stuff they
do that’s aimed at
girls aged 11-15.
For the past eight
years that’s what’s
driven a large chunk
of the entertainment
economy so I get why
they do it… but that
doesn’t mean I have
to like it. Some of
the things they’ve
done have had a
clear target, have
done good things,
and have influenced
the target demo in a
very positive way.
Prom
however… is not one
of those things.
It’s a movie that
doesn’t bring very
much to the table
and borrows from
every high
school/coming-of-age
movie ever made.
Really this movie’s
been made before
with 10 Things I
Hate About You.
There’s no
originality and it’s
branched/tree
storyline is
supposed to help it
move more, but
instead it just
prolongs the misery.
The
storyline of
Prom
is simple. It
follows a bunch of
kids’ stories before
the night of prom
and the storyline
peaks the big night
when we see how
everything is going
for these different
kids. There’s the
awkward smart kid
who’s never had a
date and can’t find
someone to go with.
There’s the smart
and ambitious girl
who’s looking for
meaning and love as
her high school days
come to a close.
There’s the
rebellious
underachiever ‘bad
cover/good book’
type kid who’s
willing to be that
guy for the smart
girl. There’s the
young kid who’s
trying to find his
place in high school
and his counterpart.
Then there’s the
player, the girl
he’s using, the
couple that’s been
together forever…
Basically it’s a
bunch of characters
and storylines from
movies like
Prom
all rolled into one
movie.
There’s one good
thing about
Prom...
With movies like
this you hope that
you have a bunch of
future stars casted.
There
could be do two or
possibly three of
those future stars
with
Prom.
First and foremost
Thomas McDonell is
far and away the
best actor in this
group. He plays the
Heath Ledger type
role in this movie
and even though he’s
not as good as
Ledger he’s pretty
impressive. Aimee
Teegarden plays
opposite of McDonell
and even though
she’s not brilliant
by any means, she
shows some solid
flashes of
potential. The other
highlight of
Prom
is Nicholas Braun
who plays Lloyd.
Lloyd is the comedic
relief for the film
and he’s decent in
the movie.
The
main problem with
Prom
is its story. It
just doesn’t work.
The constant moving
between characters
needs to be saved
for independent
movies, not high
school romance
movies. They should
have just focused on
the Teegarden/McDonell
storyline and maybe
added Lloyd in there
for comedic relief
and trimmed the fat
with everything else
in the movie.
Direction by Joe
Nussbaum is decent;
he didn’t do a
terrible job. But
the writing is a key
flaw.
The extras are
pretty similar to
the movie. There’s a
ton of music videos
including stuff from
Neon Trees and
McDonell’s band
Moon. The music
videos aren’t
terrible but they
aren’t great either.
There’s also a short
featurette starring
Lloyd that’s more of
a collection of
deleted scenes more
than anything else.
Oh… and there’s
deleted scenes. For
the people that do
like this movie, it
comes bundled with
DVD and it’s worth
picking up in a
combo pack so they
can watch it
wherever.
This movie isn’t
great. It’s not for
anyone to watch over
the age of 22.
However it will find
it will connect well
with its niche and
it will connect for
awhile with it. It
could have been
better than what it
was there’s no doubt
about that, but
basically it is what
it is and not much
more.
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