I know what you're thinking. Terrifying prom night means "Carrie".
No, not even close. The terrifying part comes early, and then the magical prom night. And then things end happily. Right?
Maybe not.
This isn't a comedy, but we get plenty of much-needed laughs, especially in a skating rink.
Is the bad stuff over by the end? I hate to say that it's not, but most of the movie is magical at this point.
Montanna Gillis is the most appealing Montanna since Hannah (who spelled it like the state). She is a wonderful actress we should see more of. She does upset really well, but the writers made sure we didn't have to see too much of that. Raquel is kind and caring but also strong when she needs to be, and she can be vulnerable.
Jesse Celedon is mostly gentle and professional but he can be tough. He also knows how to take responsibility for his actions. And there is a powerful scene where we learn lessons. He is amazing there. It could be an Oscar clip, if this was that good a movie.
Everyone else does a capable job, even if much of what happens follows a formula. But the actors playing both rich guys show both a tough side and a vulnerable side. James more than Preston gives us this attitude of "I have my daddy's money and you can't hurt me. What you gonna do about it?" There would also be words you can't say on broadcast TV in that. Later we get more of a "I ... I'm sorry ... please don't hurt me."
At this point I should mention lots of words get bleeped and the character's mouth is covered. This happens a lot, so much so that in some scenes it's impossible to figure out what is going on (in the version I saw).
There is a brief scene where video techniques make it clear a character is getting just plain wasted.
On the subject of music, there are two places that Victor visits. At one, but there is good music with Spanish lyrics. At the one with strippers and even conventional dancing between couples, music? Not worthy of that term.
The credits are the most detailed I have ever seen. Apparently every extra is there. There were people listed, in order of appearance, I have no memory of. There are people who wouldn't have been listed because they didn't do hardly anything.
This movie is somewhat hard to take at times, but it is very rewarding if you give it a chance.
