I watched this movie for the sole reason of hoping against all odds that this might be Winona Ryder's big break. Unfortunately, it turned out to be yet another uninspired drivel she managed to get mired in during the last decade.
As a fellow reviewer mentioned, the movie's premise is believable and actually promising (a revisit of the teenage angst/fitting into society theme but in the context of a grown-up character could have been just right for Ryder, who had success in this field - Heathers, Roxy Carmichael etc.), the casting is reasonable, but the execution is a flop. Both unrealistic and uninspiring is how it came across to me.
*Spoilers below*
The main character's plight is resolved in a disappointing manner.
He gets into a fight with an ex-bully and gets severely beat up right before his appearance on local TV and his speech at high school graduation. WTF was that about? The guy is 38 years old, he's supposed to have at least either brains or brawn by now (preferably both), yet he behaved like a stupid kid. No, getting beat up is not cool, or smart; it shows a complete lack of progress from his submissive school mentality - and such progress apparently was intended as the main point of the storyline.
He "hits" on a teenage high-schooler (played by a girl who's at least 25, as are all the "highschoolers" in this movie). While this topic was poignantly and deeply explored in films like "American Beauty", here it's a pathetic mess. If he doesn't want a relationship with a teenager, why does he allow her to hug and kiss him, goes to the prom with her, and later takes her to an after-prom party? Weird behavior for a 38-old-man who was asked to deliver a speech at the graduation (and is therefore tasked with being a role-model of sorts for the teens). If, on the other hand, he decided to overcome his complexes this way, why didn't he play it to the hilt and have sex with the girl (she is 18)? So, either stupid or cowardly - again, no progress from his high-school persona.
The "book" he wrote is a real "masterpiece": a simple retelling of his high-school failures using aliases instead of real names, it is very uncomplimentary to his former classmates, including one of his best friends. In fact, I was surprised the unflattering passages which flagellate this guy's life choices did not cost the hero his friendship, period.
The "speech" he gave at the graduation was a mish-mash of brainless clichés about how high-school life creates memories and influences you (well, duh!) and apparently nothing more than a passage from his own book (talk about shameless plugs and laziness!) Finally, the big storyline of his relationship with Scarlet (Ryder) was basically left hanging. Yeah, he sleeps with her once, and then leaves town. Was this what all the fuss was about? One single sex event? I'm sure she'd do it just for the fun of it (she's also 38, let's not forget that), so why build up so much expectations only to end it with a meaningless pat on the back and goodbye? The two were shown to be seriously attracted to each other, so why does he run away? Again, this is not an adult solution, it's the way a whiny teenage kid could react, afraid of anything serious.
*End spoilers*
All-in-all, a disappointing movie. Doubly so for me: as a long-time fan of Ryder, it's painful to see her struggling with this kind of low-quality spiritless crap. She's obviously not made for the kind of plain, tasteless, brainless mulch that passes for film like "Stay Cool". I'm sure that, given a powerful unorthodox director who would play to her strengths in a movie that is not afraid to break new ground, she could shine again. Case in point: her small but vicious appearance in Aronofsky's Black Swan (now there's a movie I have no regret of watching!), which was sadly very brief but gave a good taste of how wickedly effective she can be. Someone like Tim Burton or David Lynch could certainly use her well; too bad nothing of the sort is even envisaged at this point. Which is sad because it seems an entire era of film-making is silently retiring instead of pleasing us all with new masterpieces.
As a fellow reviewer mentioned, the movie's premise is believable and actually promising (a revisit of the teenage angst/fitting into society theme but in the context of a grown-up character could have been just right for Ryder, who had success in this field - Heathers, Roxy Carmichael etc.), the casting is reasonable, but the execution is a flop. Both unrealistic and uninspiring is how it came across to me.
*Spoilers below*
The main character's plight is resolved in a disappointing manner.
He gets into a fight with an ex-bully and gets severely beat up right before his appearance on local TV and his speech at high school graduation. WTF was that about? The guy is 38 years old, he's supposed to have at least either brains or brawn by now (preferably both), yet he behaved like a stupid kid. No, getting beat up is not cool, or smart; it shows a complete lack of progress from his submissive school mentality - and such progress apparently was intended as the main point of the storyline.
He "hits" on a teenage high-schooler (played by a girl who's at least 25, as are all the "highschoolers" in this movie). While this topic was poignantly and deeply explored in films like "American Beauty", here it's a pathetic mess. If he doesn't want a relationship with a teenager, why does he allow her to hug and kiss him, goes to the prom with her, and later takes her to an after-prom party? Weird behavior for a 38-old-man who was asked to deliver a speech at the graduation (and is therefore tasked with being a role-model of sorts for the teens). If, on the other hand, he decided to overcome his complexes this way, why didn't he play it to the hilt and have sex with the girl (she is 18)? So, either stupid or cowardly - again, no progress from his high-school persona.
The "book" he wrote is a real "masterpiece": a simple retelling of his high-school failures using aliases instead of real names, it is very uncomplimentary to his former classmates, including one of his best friends. In fact, I was surprised the unflattering passages which flagellate this guy's life choices did not cost the hero his friendship, period.
The "speech" he gave at the graduation was a mish-mash of brainless clichés about how high-school life creates memories and influences you (well, duh!) and apparently nothing more than a passage from his own book (talk about shameless plugs and laziness!) Finally, the big storyline of his relationship with Scarlet (Ryder) was basically left hanging. Yeah, he sleeps with her once, and then leaves town. Was this what all the fuss was about? One single sex event? I'm sure she'd do it just for the fun of it (she's also 38, let's not forget that), so why build up so much expectations only to end it with a meaningless pat on the back and goodbye? The two were shown to be seriously attracted to each other, so why does he run away? Again, this is not an adult solution, it's the way a whiny teenage kid could react, afraid of anything serious.
*End spoilers*
All-in-all, a disappointing movie. Doubly so for me: as a long-time fan of Ryder, it's painful to see her struggling with this kind of low-quality spiritless crap. She's obviously not made for the kind of plain, tasteless, brainless mulch that passes for film like "Stay Cool". I'm sure that, given a powerful unorthodox director who would play to her strengths in a movie that is not afraid to break new ground, she could shine again. Case in point: her small but vicious appearance in Aronofsky's Black Swan (now there's a movie I have no regret of watching!), which was sadly very brief but gave a good taste of how wickedly effective she can be. Someone like Tim Burton or David Lynch could certainly use her well; too bad nothing of the sort is even envisaged at this point. Which is sad because it seems an entire era of film-making is silently retiring instead of pleasing us all with new masterpieces.