Struck by Lightning (2012)

Number Rolled: 96

Movie Name/Year: Struck by Lightning (2012)

Genre: Comedy

Length: 83 minutes

Rating: NR

Director: Brian Dannelly

Writer: Chris Colfer

Actors: Rebel Wilson, Chris Colfer, Allison Janney, Polly Bergen, Dermot Mulroney, Roberto Aguire, Kyle Burch, Melissa Schwolow, Angela Kinsey, Ashley Rickards, Matt Prokop, Sarah Hyland, Allie Grant, Graham Rogers, Robbie Amell, Carter Jenkins, Christina Hendricks, Brad William Henke, Charlie Finn,

Carson Phillips was an outcast. He spent his life hiding behind the written word; using it as an escape from his horrible home and school lives. As he grew up, he became even more of an outcast due to the sharp wit and sarcastic personality he developed to deal with life. His dreams of getting out Clover, writing for the New Yorker and going to college are destroyed when he is struck by lightning. We are graced, by Carson, with the memory of those last weeks before his death.

I can’t even begin to describe every level of appreciation I have for this movie. The characters were in depth and relatable. The story line was dark and funny and horrible and uplifting and depressing, all at once. Chris Colfer pulled off a character that I had no doubt in my mind he was going to flop with. Maybe he played it so well because it was his character. As writers, we tend to know our characters better than we know ourselves. Even with that possibility in mind, he absolutely killed it (in the best way).

There was so much hype surrounding this movie when it came out. Of course there was. Chris Colfer is a new, young, growing in popularity, actor. He’s known for his steady work on Glee, starting in 2009. And, if you want to look him up on IMDB, you’ll find he hasn’t been in much else. So when he started putting out books, they got a lot of attention. Struck by Lightning is based on one of those books.

That being said, the think I find most remarkable about this movie is that it lived up to the hype from fans. Critics may have trashed it, but I saw some stupid reasons for that, none of which I agree with. For instance, Stephen Holden of The New York Times, wrote: “…..(Struck by Lightning) gives its characters no dimension …(Carson) is portrayed as a cuddlesome sweetie. In reality, Carson is a snide, vindictive, sanctimonious brat.” I would like to start off by saying that the movie, in no way, even mildly, attempts to make Carson look like a lovable, cuddly anything. I don’t know if Mr. Holden thinks all protagonists need to be perfect cheerleader leader types, but that seems to be what he’s saying.

Carson was portrayed as a snide, vindictive, sanctimonious brat – because that’s what he was. He had a life filled with bullies and a bad home situation and the only escape he had was the realization that someday he’d get to leave. He hated his surroundings and had to believe he was “holier-than-thou” or he would have given up. Maybe I just get it because that was me in high school. Carrying around a notebook to jot down silly little poems and stories in, just so I could constantly remind myself that someday I would be able to get away and become who I wanted to be. When you have people constantly reminding you that your dreams are “wrong” or “too much” or something you could never obtain, do you know what you become? You become a snide, vindictive, sanctimonious brat and you stay that way until you learn to tell people (even your family) to fuck off. Who knows, maybe Holden didn’t have anyone holding him back, and so it became impossible for him to see the true depth behind this character.

I have yet to be able to come up with a flaw this movie portrayed. I thought it was one of the single most amazing movies I’ve seen.

Overall Opinion – 5/5