“Friday Night Lights” (2004)
Somewhat overshadowed now by its acclaimed TV spin-off (also directed and produced by Peter Berg, whose cousin H.G. Bissinger penned the best-selling non-fiction book on which both were based), at the time, “Friday Night Lights” felt like a breath of fresh air for the high school football movie. Keeping close to real events, Berg’s cast of characters, from paternal Coach Gaines (Billy Bob Thornton) to terribly injured running back Booby Miles (Derek Luke) feel snatched from life, in part thanks to the director’s hugely effective documentary-style approach to the events. Few of the events feel revelatory — from quarterback Mike’s (Lucas Black) crisis of confidence to fullback Don’s (Garret Hedlund) borderline abusive relationship with his father (a surprisingly excellent Tim McGraw), it’s been seen before. But it had rarely, if ever, been given the kind of raw truthfulness that Berg and his excellent cast deliver here. Berg never over-eggs or sentimentalizes, leading to a climax (including a final speech that might represent Thornton’s finest bit of screen acting) that’s uplifting without being manipulative. [B+]
“Brick” (2006)
Rian Johnson pulled off a ballsy gamble with his debut film, crossbreeding a high school drama with a hardboiled detective story and managing to not only find authenticity in the concoction but enrapture the viewer with believable drama. Brendan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt digging deep and coming up with the kind of promise that has made him a hot property) is on the trail of his reclusive flame Emily (Emilie de Ravin), who he quickly finds has turned up dead. His continued quest to discover her killer leads him into the fray of a gang war between a drug kingpin (Lukas Haas) and his turncoat muscle (Noah Fleiss). Let’s stop for a moment — if you haven’t seen the film, this is all the summary you’re going to get. Now let’s get to the heart of the matter. Johnson, who wrote the film, gives his cast marble-mouthed, noir sizzled dialogue that feels like a balancing act whenever uttered, builds a twisty plot and even manages to find room for intelligent humor in contrasting the fact that these are still children, adolescents scratching their heads over things frequently beyond comprehension. The beauty of it is that we feel for Brendan, and the emotional stakes build and build, as a quiet storm rises and eventually boils over, in true noir style. [A-]
“Easy A” (2010)
The meta-teen movie is a more recent invention, featuring characters that are aware of high school flicks past, and Will Gluck‘s “Easy A,” a very loose reworking of “The Scarlet Letter,” is the kind of film where the protoganists dream of being wooed like girls and guys in John Hughes’ films. It might sound insufferable, but in fact, “Easy A” was a delight, thanks to a sharp-as-a-knife script from playwright Bert V. Royal, and an endlessly endearing lead performance from Emma Stone. As Olive Prendergast, Stone is awkwardly winning, and gifted with supernaturally good comic timing, so it’s no surprise that she’s on her way to becoming a megastar. Plus, in Stanley Tucci and Patricia Clarkson, she has arguably the greatest screen parents in the history of the genre. The film falters a little at the end, dipping into the moralistic milieu that it’s been satirizing for much of the running time, but it remains the freshest, funniest high school picture of the last few years. [B+]
Honorable Mentions: While our definition of “high school movie” is already a little loose (“Say Anything,” for instance, takes place mostly in the period just after high school graduation, but it feels like such a high school movie in spirit that we let it slide), there were a few films we couldn’t quite allow. For instance, we decided that high school kept it in the U.S, disqualifying films like “Flirting” and “If…” Similarly, we just weren’t sure teen rebel movies like “Rebel Without A Cause” and “The Outsiders” spent enough time in the hallways to properly qualify, just as “Splendor In The Grass” doesn’t really either.
Elsewhere, we decided not to let John Hughes dominate, so we excluded the likes of “Pretty In Pink” and “Sixteen Candles.” Other films that couldn’t quite get enough supporters to make the list included “Lucas,” “Better Off Dead,” “Peggy Sue Got Married,” “Cry Baby,” “Hairspray,” “Pump Up The Volume” and, more recently “O,” “Bring It On,” “10 Things I Hate About You,” “She’s All That” and “Not Another Teen Movie.” Finally, we’d have loved to include Frederick Wiseman‘s seminal 1968 documentary “High School,” but couldn’t find a copy in time. Any of your own favorites that we’ve missed? Weigh in below.
– Oliver Lyttelton, Rodrigo Perez, Erik McClanahan, Christopher Bell, Sam Chater, Kimber Myers, Jessica Kiang, Mark Zhuravsky
