Candy Jar

Lona and Bennett have been competing since kindergarten, maybe egged by their mothers who seem to have some issues that need to be resolved. And now college is beckoning them - Havard - or Yale - or not. Partly to look good on their CVs they are in the school debate club. But here everything gets very strange as competitive debating seems to have degenerated into a kind of bizarre speed talking contest in which points of evidence are made so fast that scarcely anyone understands.

Lona and Bennett are in some ways hugely similar and in others diametrically opposed so boy - girl, black - white, but both with single mothers, both geeks, bookworms, loners, and both very much attached to Kathy, a school counselor whose room is filled with the candy jars that give the film its title.

It's an unusual idea but it makes the film fresh and different. For me, the nonsensical debating process was a bit of a distraction, but maybe the very fact that we don't understand what they're struggling to achieve, let alone the actual arguments they make, maybe that helps us focus on them and how they matter more.

Candy Jar tells the story of Bennett (Jacob Latimore) and Lona (Sami Gayle). They're two compulsively competitive high school classmates, both debate team standouts, both with eyes set on Ivy League colleges. They share similar mindsets, personalities, drives, and aspirations. They seem to be two peas in a pod, compatible and meant to be great friends, or even a couple. Only one problem: they can't stand each other.

Their similarities are obvious to any third-party observer, but they see each other as opposites. They can't agree on anything. She dreams of attending Harvard, while he has his heart set on Yale. See, total opposites.

This whole notion that they can't agree on anything is largely silly and unbelievable. It only takes one chance encounter at a movie for the two to realize that they get along splendidly. No kidding, thinks anyone who knows them. How they took 18 years to figure this out, I have no idea.

Struggling to ingratiate themselves with their classmates is something that makes sense. They're exhausting. They talk a mile a minute and dismiss anyone who isn't on their level of obsession with debate and academics.

When debating, they talk 100 miles a minute, thanks to some strange rule change they mention that led to the competitors emailing all their arguments to the judges and opponents minutes before the debate begins. Now everyone speaks at an absurd rate that makes them impossible to understand and unbearable to listen to. This movie features a lot of debate scenes, so a lot of it is unbearable to listen to.

The moments when Bennett and Lona behave like human beings are actually charming. They have real personalities when they aren't reading frantically from their scripted debate notes. In these moments, we see their contrasting home lives. Bennett's mom is a state senator, while Lona's mom works multiple jobs get by.

We also see that the students share a bond with the school guidance counselor and her candy jar. Even though keenly aware and only moderately obnoxiously vocal about the downsides of sugary foods, they can't help but indulge in a sweet treat during each office visit.

During the course of the debate season, we witness Bennett and Lona run over every one of their opponents, every one except a couple of girls who deploy anecdotal evidence and emotion-based argument tactics.

Lona dismisses the girls and their strategy, convinced that the facts are all that matter. She doesn't see the value in the emotional angle that the girls present.

The main characters never square off against these girls directly, but they scout them since they could be opponents later in the state finals. You can guess where this is going.

There's a fair deal of learning involved in the story. Bennett and Lona learn from each other. They also learn from the emotional debaters, although the lesson is a bit unclear.

Overall, the movie has some potential but doesn't quite fulfill it. These characters are interesting when given a chance, and they needed more of an opportunity to do so.

Although Candy Jar isn't the worst Netflix movie you'll find, there are certainly better movies out there to see.

A simple movie, enjoyable with some good topics. Watched it on a lazy day. It's a good teen movie but, as an adult can also relate.

This is a drive-you-nuts pointless film with two annoying and abnormal private high schoolers, one male and one female who started a debate club and simply couldn't agree on anything with each other, and both would not back off from their two-member-only debate club for who should be the president of the club, who's more entitled either by birth date or seniority at school. The main purpose was to falsify on their college application with a title of a club presidency.

From the very beginning, we just have these two people blah, blah and blah to disagree on everything, chewing up lot of candy from the candy jars on their private school consultant's desk. We have so many phony and couldn't-care-less people at school, and two blindly support their kid's mothers.

We didn't see anything about the education, the study, the....No, nothing but constantly arguing between these two brats. It's just getting more and more annoying after awhile. This film is not about the generally normal kids in the public school system but two spoiled private high schoolers who never agreed on anything with each other. I just gave up sooner than later since I couldn't care less. Netflix may have a lot of money to burn, but they seem to have lost, more like whatever scripts they got, they'd put them into production, no matter what.

I was actually enjoying this but had to switch off because of the relentless background which was really distracting and gave me an ear worm long after the film. Clearly it was aimed at making it quirkier but it was the same tune rehashed over and over and it drowned out the performances, which was a shame as the two young leads were very engaging. I wish they wouldn't add music to everything and just trust the performances to carry the film.