Sorority Wars (2009)

Touches You

Powerful

Highly Overrated But Still Good

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

"Sorority Wars" is a made-for-TV movie that, in many ways, is much better than many commercial motion pictures. The writing is sharp and well-developed, advancing the story, sometimes in humorous ways. The directing and editing move the storyline along smoothly and naturally without effort on the viewer's part.While it may appear that girls and women would comprise the audience, the film has a great deal to offer males, namely an understanding of female competition, while seeking one's acceptance into a social network. The movie explores revenge and spiteful treatment of those ostracized by the college Greek system.One of the most important elements deals with parental influence as freshmen attempt to establish themselves as independent individuals. Failing is often a major part of succeeding, and determines what group peer pressure elements are acceptable.The last reason this film is excellent is Lucy Hale. She appears in nearly every scene, so consistency of her character is vital to the film's success. While her career is just getting started, Lucy's delivery and enthusiasm in acting, dancing, and singing demonstrate multi-talent that, a few years from now, may remind us of Doris Day.

-- It's about what you can expect from one of these kinds of movies, but it was very cute and the acting was good. If you're bored and want to find a cute family film, you found it.It of course has the personal lessons, stand up for what you believe in and know who your true friends are but I tend to like movies where the main character is easier to relate to, the one in this film seems perfect. She's pretty, speaks her mind, has the loyalty thing going, great family, talented, incredibly intelligent, gets attention from "like the hottest guy ever". So over all, average.

I rented this because of the actresses in this movie (and the plot appealed to me), and the resulting product surprised me. The daughter in the movie goes to college and agrees to pledge her mother's sorority. Unfortunately, the girls in this chapter turn out to be shallow snobs who care little about her, and she also checks out another one. After overhearing two sisters talking about "illegal stuff", she reports it, the sorority gets stripped of its upcoming formal, and she gets shunned by the campus population. Her best friend stays in the other sorority and becomes a "mean girl." She finally gets into the other sorority as a "late pledge," her mother is not too happy (as you can imagine), and an all-out war between the two sororities begins. I think this says something about our society and becoming our own person. I recommend it.*** out of ****

The "On Demand" synopsis pretty well told it all. The questions weren't what was going to happen, only occasionally when. Lots of pretty people, although generally cardboard, even prettier campus housing/sorority houses. The hope is that this was all silly fiction, from the incredibly huge dorm rooms (two people in a room four times the size my daughter shared with three), to the silly trivia quiz, to the only course anybody seems to have gone to being art. To think that there could be people that actually pay $50K a year to have their children go to such an institution says things about our society I'd rather not address (gratuitous comment added to make the ten lines--this film isn't worth that many on its merits). If you have nothing better to do, and you don't actually think about it, it isn't overly painful, but be warned, the banality oozes.