Assassination of a High School President (2008)

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

It is not a teenager movie like another reviewer said. Not in my opinion. And also this "perverted" I did not see it at all. I personally found this movie just, entertaining. It is not wonderful, and somehow there are not kept promises. But it was a bit funny, a bit sexy, a bit intriguing. You want to follow the movie and see what this little assh....e of the main character can do next. And well, yes, it is full of teens and teens are teens, with all what beautiful and annoying there is int that.And even with some weak points, this movie can be entertaining for many people.

Subtly hilarious and smartly written, Assassination of a High School President is a ride you'd want to take over and over again. There's just too many funny scenes and memorable lines, you'd have to list them down on your favorites. This is not your regular high school movie about being popular (although it still played the element) taking a different turn to the usual cliché-ridden subgenre. What's better than taking a jab on one subgenre, do it on two. "Assassination" will also remind you of the crime/detective film noir days as it parodies the subgenre in this high school flick.Sounds familiar? Brick (2005) did it first but it was grittier, taking a more serious route interlaced with romance. What "Assassination" does, on the other hand, is put a whole new spin to the clash. It's a weird combination but it worked. Throw in some witty dialogues all-throughout the movie and some eye-catching visuals and you've got the makings of a soon-to-be cult classic.Reece Thompson plays the self-aware, confident loser, Bobby Funke (pronounced as "Funky" by most of his schoolmates) who writes for the school paper yet has never actually finished an article. He shares the screen with several notable characters who are more caricatures than layered individuals. Just the right type of characters needed to portray a stereotypical high school, you've got the popular kids, the overachievers, the weirdos, outcasts and the hottest, enigmatic girl in campus, Francesca Fachini played by Mischa Barton.The story follows Bobby Funke as the writer for the school paper who has yet to earn his gold star article. The perfect opportunity comes when he was asked to write about Paul Moore, the current golden child student body president of St. Donovan's High. Funke, along with other students became suspects and subjected to intense questioning by the strict and non-conventional, gum-hating Principal Jared T. Kirkpatrick (Bruce Willis). It would have been a simple feature but when Francesca asks him to find out who stole the SATs, a recent issue that rocked the campus. Soon, Bobby finds dirt on Moore linking him to the stolen SATs and publishes his first finished article to rave reviews. Paul was suspended (a la prison style, with a matching guard and visitation rights) but something wasn't right. It turns out that Paul is simply a patsy, a scapegoat to the real crime and it is up to Funke to clear the name he destroyed, as an arbiter of truth.Desperate about his situation, Paul breaks out of suspension and attempts to assassinate the new president of the school body, Marlon Piazza, on his much publicized inauguration. While the attack was nothing serious (he used goddamn paintballs), it was enough to take away Paul Moore into an undisclosed facility for treatment. This puts Funke on the same desperation for uncovering the truth as he does all that he can do to clear Paul's name such as buy Paul's sister unicorns and following white rapper Alex Schneider and his devious crew during his driving test. Who are the real culprits behind the stolen SATs? Funke is about to find out while becoming more and more upclose with campus crush Francesca.What makes "Assassination" hilarious is its serious attempt at making the high school mafia-like, creating a whole new universe in itself. Much like watching Spongebob and finding out that the Jellyfish are equivalent to butterflies. You have to suspend disbelief and simply enjoy the film for the universe it created, even if it may appear silly. Things you should watch out for are the things happening in the background. There are some pretty funny things going on captured within the frame while you're trying to concentrate on the sharp dialogues."Assassination" is not some mind-blowing thriller that will shake you to the core, nope. In fact, it is as predictable as every crime story you've ever seen. It's all about the style, setting in a different league than most thriller's you enjoyed in the cinemas. It's what's worth watching in this flick. With so many hard hitting lines, you'll wonder why there aren't a lot of GIFs of the movie lurking around blogging sites. Or maybe there is. But people really have to get on this quick.Assassination of a High School President is a stylish yet predictable comedy thriller that will leave a mark on your favorites.

This film is a real gem; I wasn't expecting too much from it, but was very pleasantly surprised. It's not as self-serious as the recent 'Brick' which also explores the noir-highschool concept (rather brilliantly, I might add), but still delivers appropriate amounts of drama and tension where it counts, as well as a dose of humor for good measure. The script is tight and interesting, if very slightly predictable (anyone with even a cursory knowledge of film noir could guess the direction that Micha Barton's character was going to take in the end), but the actors did a great job with their material, and the director kept the visuals interesting without going over the top on sex appeal or exaggerating the lifestyles of high school students; nobody drives a Porsche, nobody lives in a mansion, none of the girls are perfect barbie dolls, etc. The director deserves credit for staying away from these tropes and the characters benefit greatly for it. Overall, a very good movie, and very much worth watching.

ASSASSINATION OF A HIGH SCHOOL PRESIDENT is a big step above most of the teen movies that focus on potty mouth dialogue and absurd situations just to get laughs. Writers Tim Calpin and Kevin Jakubowski have come up with a script that is sometimes smart but ultimately full of holes in deciding where it wants to take the original premise of this high school movie. Director Brett Simon seems to sort of let the movie flow as it develops, preventing a tight telling of a story with potential. Bobby Funke (Reece Thompson, a promising new talent) is a nerdy newspaper reporter who is never able to finish a story. Student Body President/basketball star/ladies' man Paul Moore (Patrick Taylor) seems to have everything Bobby wants, including the attention of the school's most beautiful girl Francesca (Mischa Barton). As fortune would have it a crime happens - the SATs are stolen from the office of Principal Kirkpatrick (Bruce Willis playing Bruce Willis) and Booby is on the investigation and story, a story that points to Paul as the perpetrator. Bobby's nerdiness is transformed by his attention and by the affections of Francesca, and soon the school collapses under the cloud of the crime. It is how the 'crime' is inspected and resolved that ends the film. For Bobby Funke it is a matter of 'What price glory'. The cast is fresh and it is a pleasure to see some new faces with promise. Whether it is the director's or the sound mixer's fault, much of the dialogue is swallowed by the soundtrack, a problem thankfully solved by turning on the subtitles. This is a movie with promise from all involved and it will be interesting to see if it has an impact on teen flick quality. Grady Harp