Great performances and fun concept couldn't save a cringe-worthy script
I really wanted to like this movie. I've been a fan of Angourie Rice since her standout performance in The Nice Guys, and coupled with Gaten Matarazzo from Stranger Things, this film had a lot going for it. I even really dug the general plot: a girl, ranked 4th in her high school graduating class, plots to take down her competition by any means necessary in order to get into Harvard.
Unfortunately, the film leaned way too heavily on 4th wall breaking in the guise of humor, so much so that by five minutes in, the bit was old. While the intent was seemingly to provide meta-humor, the devise was clearly just a crutch to deliver exposition about what Honor (Rice) was thinking since she was established to have no real friends in school, so the only way to know what she was planning was by having her say so directly to camera. In addition to the strained comedy, it reduced just about every character besides Honor to a caricature of a typical high school cliche since her point of view dominated the narrative. In the end, you're left with just one well-defined character, for whom most of their dialogue is blatant exposition "hidden" by lame jokes.
But worse than the meta-humor was just how cringe-inducing large parts of the script were. Perhaps it is theoretically possible for a man in his late fifties to deeply understand the culture of the youth, a young woman no less, but that was not the case with screenwriter David A. Goodman (nearly 60 years old when this film was released). Several scenes of this movie, which I'm sure were intended as satire, made me cringe out of my skin for how poorly observed the commentary was. It honestly felt like an aging father's attempt to embarrass his teen daughter. And despite the meta-commentary, the film never seemed to grasp how out of touch it was.
In spite of these pretty significant problems, I can't give the film a firmly negative review. This is largely due to Rice and Matarazzo who gave excellent performances even with such subpar writing, proving yet again that they are stars to watch. And even more puzzling, is the fact that the film has many touching scenes that absolutely work (in a vacuum). A scene in which a son comes out to his father, which was thankfully devoid of any 4th wall breaking, actually registered a legitimate emotional response from me, despite having maybe 5 or 10 minutes of set up. And overall, Honor's arc is a very satisfying one, even if you saw the twists and turns coming. Sadly, these definitive strengths aren't able to save the movie, only make the weaknesses that much more stark and glaring by comparison.
Given that the film is a breezy 100 minutes with some worthy moments and stellar performances, I wouldn't discourage anyone from watching. But I regretfully didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped. However, maybe it will succeed in one thing, proving that Angourie Rice is a terrific actress and absolutely ready to deliver on the right project.
Unfortunately, the film leaned way too heavily on 4th wall breaking in the guise of humor, so much so that by five minutes in, the bit was old. While the intent was seemingly to provide meta-humor, the devise was clearly just a crutch to deliver exposition about what Honor (Rice) was thinking since she was established to have no real friends in school, so the only way to know what she was planning was by having her say so directly to camera. In addition to the strained comedy, it reduced just about every character besides Honor to a caricature of a typical high school cliche since her point of view dominated the narrative. In the end, you're left with just one well-defined character, for whom most of their dialogue is blatant exposition "hidden" by lame jokes.
But worse than the meta-humor was just how cringe-inducing large parts of the script were. Perhaps it is theoretically possible for a man in his late fifties to deeply understand the culture of the youth, a young woman no less, but that was not the case with screenwriter David A. Goodman (nearly 60 years old when this film was released). Several scenes of this movie, which I'm sure were intended as satire, made me cringe out of my skin for how poorly observed the commentary was. It honestly felt like an aging father's attempt to embarrass his teen daughter. And despite the meta-commentary, the film never seemed to grasp how out of touch it was.
In spite of these pretty significant problems, I can't give the film a firmly negative review. This is largely due to Rice and Matarazzo who gave excellent performances even with such subpar writing, proving yet again that they are stars to watch. And even more puzzling, is the fact that the film has many touching scenes that absolutely work (in a vacuum). A scene in which a son comes out to his father, which was thankfully devoid of any 4th wall breaking, actually registered a legitimate emotional response from me, despite having maybe 5 or 10 minutes of set up. And overall, Honor's arc is a very satisfying one, even if you saw the twists and turns coming. Sadly, these definitive strengths aren't able to save the movie, only make the weaknesses that much more stark and glaring by comparison.
Given that the film is a breezy 100 minutes with some worthy moments and stellar performances, I wouldn't discourage anyone from watching. But I regretfully didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped. However, maybe it will succeed in one thing, proving that Angourie Rice is a terrific actress and absolutely ready to deliver on the right project.
- jg_1977
- Aug 11, 2022