Prom (2011) Reviews

• A fairy tale ending for teenagers

  rgkarim2011-04-29

  So I'm sure a lot of people saw this from the trailer, but Prom is a classic Disney spin on a very big moment in a teenager's life. Yes this movie is a preteen/early teen's dream about the life and drama involved in asking someone out for prom and the plans that go in it. To star off on this review Prom centers on about five different scenarios all wrapped up into one movie. The scenarios are a romance story between the class president and a ruffian, another love story between a dweeb and a beautiful sophomore, a small side story about a guy trying to get someone to come to a prom, another story of deceit and betrayal, and finally a story about an ideal relationship hitting a rocky course. I know sounds like a soap opera doesn't it, and in fact I would call this movie a teenage soap opera. The story lines in my opinion were predictable, very linear, and felt similar to a plot found in most Glee episodes. The dialog in this movie was not strong enough to keep the story interesting as well, as it was more juvenile and not really deep. However, from the trailers this is what I was expecting would be the case and thus am not too shocked by it. Despite the poor main story line and the intense drama from others I enjoyed the brief interludes present throughout the movie that involved the unknown loser Lloyd and his quest to ask a girl out. These funny, although weak, scenes gave the film a little more pace and took away from the drawn out drama. The other story was the sophomore geek Lucas and his quest to impress the lovely Simone while ditching his best friend. This story was also weak and predictable, but the acting was done well enough that I was dragged into feeling sorry for him. In fact I could even see some qualities of myself in Lucas, which is probably why I was interested in this story. So what else is there to say about this movie? Well the acting is not bad, and although young, these actors are already showing potential for being good actors. However, most audience members may be caught up in the dramatic actions these teens do in the movie. However, I believe the teenage girls will be focused more on the sulky, pouty, and rebel nature of the main dude and will be making various sounds that represent their attraction to the man. At least that was what I saw when I saw this movie. Another thing is that the soundtrack is very mainstream radio with songs from All Star Weekend, Taio Cruz, and yes even Katy Perry being played throughout the movie. It adds zest to the film and makes one feel like they are in prom, but if you're not a fan of mainstream radio then you will not enjoy it. The camera work is nice too, and the setting does actually feel like a high school setting so that's another thing I find positive. However this movie was also like being in high school musical, except get rid of the singing and dancing and instead replace it with Twilight qualities. To wrap this up, Prom is a movie that will make teenage girls go gaga and laugh at almost every scene. If they are not laughing, then there is a good chance that they will be swooning over the guy leads in this movie or awing at the cuteness this movie does have. As I have mentioned before the dialog is weak, the story is predictable, and the pace can be a little slow and boring at times. However, it is a cute, high school soap opera that will entertain those that like to see happy endings and smiles. This is also a movie that could be good for a date as well. Regardless looking at this movie for what it is I will give it a 7, but that's being a little generous. Until then enjoy and please email me if you have any ideas to improve my writing at rgkarim@mail.roanoke.edu

• Starry night, holey night

  StevePulaski2011-09-24

  Prom is standard Disney fare, and that's not necessarily a good thing. Disney movies are known to be, well, "Disney Clean." But when a film is swabbed down to the point of utter harmlessness, and it sugarcoats the nightmares and sadness some experience during prom, it ultimately becomes laughably unrealistic and a pale shadow of the real event. There's nothing wrong with being all well and good, but the events in Prom are executed very poorly, the drama is handled in a fictitious way, and the overall result is calamity. Even the characters, mostly teens playing Seniors, when really, some appear to be Seniors in College, are almost walking mannequins who aren't given enough freedom to be themselves rather than just the stereotypes and the Disney bodies they are told to be. Hollywood is able to create a convincing high school premise, but they can't create convincing high school characters. The story is almost an anthology series of a plethora of boys and girls getting ready for "that one special night" of prom. Prom is said to be one of the greatest nights in a teenager's life, and these kids are hellbent on that believing in that philosophy. The lead girl is played by Aimee Teegarden. She is the over-achieving high school girl who wants the Senior Prom to be perfect. She is paired with an incompetent, loner who is more interested in believing his own philosophy of "prom is just another stupid night" after all the original prom decorations burn in a fire. Prom then continues spitting characters at you at rapid fire, and giving them their own set of problems. My favorite character was Luke, played by Nolan Sotillo. He is the shy and scarred kid crushing on the popular girl, and is waiting for the right move that never comes. He is a little like me in that sense, but even he can't escape the true high school formula for creating teenagers. This film has everyone; the jock, the cheater, the scared girl, the persistent boyfriend, the geeks, the pretty girl, the over-achiever, the rebel, etc. All of which aren't convincing, and are poorly-drawn figures. If John Hughes had handled the script, what would he have done? For one, not work with Disney. And two, maybe give some monologues which this film desperately needs, and maybe give the characters a greater personality rather than a stereotype. The story itself is very slim, but even being so small, it could've spawned a good film. I always try to find the target audience in films, and it seems Prom is shooting below the bar. Seniors who will be attending prom will likely not be amused or even interested by such a film, and people around the age of eight will either not know what prom is or find the film by complete accident. It does a fine job at showing the very basic problems and events that go into such a dance, but still, if this had been made by any other company but Disney, it likely would've focused on more personal problems and more of the serious issues rather than just "what dress should I wear?" This isn't incredibly disgraceful film-making. It has heart, I'll give it that, but the reality is that this isn't reality. This is the fictional world we should live in but don't. Cheating is mentioned, but not focused on, every character takes the path they're expected, and many of the serious issues are taken in a brief and quiet manner. Again - standard Disney fare, but this time, Disney misses the target and the target audience. Starring: Aimee Teegarden, Thomas McDonell, Yin Chang, Nicholas Braun, Dean Norris, Danielle Campbell, Nolan Sotillo, Cameron Monaghan, Christine Elise, and Raini Rodriguez. Directed by: Joe Nussbaum.

• Not What I Expected

  lovinlyfex72011-05-19

  This movie was far from what I expected and certainly not worth my $8.75 movie ticket. It's not exciting and extremely predictable. The whole time I kept hoping it would get better or more exciting and it just never did. I was very disappointed. There was really not even any sparks between characters. They just kind of read their lines and moved from scene to scene. There is never a "wow" moment in this film. I can however see how it would be a great movie for much much younger kids because it is very clean and good natured. Nothing for parents to worry about. But if you're looking for the kind of teen romcom humor as in John Tucker Must Die or Mean Girls, do not waste your time on this movie. Definitely not worth your time.

• Very entertaining, touching high-school movie...

  FireWave2011-09-02

  First of all, I don't see many reasons for this movie to be hated. It's really not that bad, at all. Movie shows to us some activities and problems that teenagers have at the end some of theirs' spots in life. When we are talking about the acting, I can say that I was quite surprised how decent it was. Aimee Teegarden and McDonell did really good job with their roles. Their story was predictable ( like the whole movie in general), but it was nicely done. It was touching, softly and for someones heartbreaking. All of the characters were interesting, likable and pretty good to see them again in another scene. I have to admit, that it was rare movie with all likable characters in my case and opinion. Again, there were a lot of them, and because of that, we can't reach full character development, which is weak minus, but it happens with this movies. Soundtrack of this movie is great. It perfectly matches with all of the scenes. Cinematography was also great. All places in the movie were very beautiful and interesting. Of course, just like I said, movie is predictable, sometimes corny and unrealistic, but that doesn't mean that it's bad. It's just there to add some charm. At the end of the day, it's just comedy about high- school. Overall: With all of this, some positive energy reaches to your heart, while you're watching "Prom", at least in my case. You're not gonna be disappointed, unless you have high hopes. My final rating: 7.5/10

• good production value and time pass but story, dialogues and characterization is not worth it.

  saadgkhan2011-08-20

  PROM – TRASH IT ( C+ ) Prom is the dullest and inconsistent tween movie I've seen in recent times. The movie was supposed to be about prom and updated tween version but sadly it showcases the typical dilemma about prom with no consistency or regularity. The movie and its characters are all over the place. Scenes are badly edited and joint together so badly that even supposed funny scenes couldn't produce any laughs. The only thing made me go through this movie was Amee Teegarden and Thomas McDowell's story because as incomplete and typical it was, they brought some charm to it. Besides these two, Danielle Campbell, Cameron Monaghan & Nolan Sotillo scenes was little interesting. Nicolas Braun looked aged and not funny at all as he looked in trailers. Overall, good production value and time pass but story, dialogues and characterization is not worth it.