This would’ve been so much better with Richard Linklater at the helm. There are a handful of decent scenes, but so much of this feels like it belongs on the Disney Channel. Most of the acting is really bad, some parts are downright problematic and cringy to look at now (it might’ve been interesting to have a discussion about some of those issues, but instead it’s just glossed over to keep this schmaltzy, feel good tone), the cinematography and lighting are uninspired and some of the logic/character motivations/dialogue are really weird. I get that it’s meant to be heightened, but a lot of this movie feels so phony and inauthentic, I get the feeling it’s blissfully unaware of its own corniness. That’s also why I don’t buy the turn our main character makes in the third act, there’s little to no motivation behind it. Again, it all goes back to the problem that it doesn’t want to put in the work dramatically in the first two acts, but then wants to have its cake and eat it too in the third act. It keeps a decent pace, I guess, and the music is good, but I got very little out it besides that.
Review by JordyVIP 8BlockedParent2022-11-30T13:49:35Z
This would’ve been so much better with Richard Linklater at the helm. There are a handful of decent scenes, but so much of this feels like it belongs on the Disney Channel. Most of the acting is really bad, some parts are downright problematic and cringy to look at now (it might’ve been interesting to have a discussion about some of those issues, but instead it’s just glossed over to keep this schmaltzy, feel good tone), the cinematography and lighting are uninspired and some of the logic/character motivations/dialogue are really weird. I get that it’s meant to be heightened, but a lot of this movie feels so phony and inauthentic, I get the feeling it’s blissfully unaware of its own corniness. That’s also why I don’t buy the turn our main character makes in the third act, there’s little to no motivation behind it. Again, it all goes back to the problem that it doesn’t want to put in the work dramatically in the first two acts, but then wants to have its cake and eat it too in the third act. It keeps a decent pace, I guess, and the music is good, but I got very little out it besides that.
4/10