Sundance Film Fest 2008 (World Premiere)–Director Brett Simons feature debut is a well-crafted high-school drama that strays from the typical teenage fare. What seems at first a familiar plot keeps twisting and turning until the last frame.
Combining a keen sense of relief that no one can force you back to high school with an equally strong desire to return and make all of the cool kids realize that theres life past graduation, “Assassination of a High School President” captures a new kind of grown-up teenage angst.
Sophomore Bobby Funke (played by Reece Thompson) is a self-described newspaper dork whose social skills are severely lacking in this high school hierarchy. Yet he is instantly recognizable as the person with the most promising future in his class. Determined to win a spot in a coveted summer journalism program, he finds himself at the center of a story that threatens the entire social structure of St. Donovans High Schooleveryone from jocks to misfits to Bruce Williss campy and over-the-top principal.
The cast ensemble creates a high school from hell, where anything seems possible, especially since every character seems to be 16 going on 30.
Spoiler Alert
Offering any hints about the film’s ending would spoil the fun watching it.
Credits
Director: Brett Simon
Screenwriter: Tim Calpin, Kevin Jakubowski
Producer: Bob Yari, Roy Lee, Doug Davison
Camera: M. David Mullen
Editor: William Anderson
Running Time: 90 Minutes
Color
Cast:
Mischa Barton,
Reece Daniel Thompson
Bruce Willis
Michael Rapaport,
Kathryn Morris
Josh Pais
