F the Prom (2017)

Number Rolled: 58

Movie Name/Year: F the Prom (2017)

Tagline: None

Genre: Comedy

Length: 92 minutes

Rating: TV-MA

Production Companies: Big Block Media Holdings, Fine Brothers Entertainment

Producer: Jamie Bendell, Seth Fass, Benny Fine, Rafi Fine, Scott Prisand, Kenny Solomon, Michael Speyer, Dylan Vox

Director: Benny Fine

Writer: Benny Fine, Rafi Fine, Molly Prather

Actors: Danielle Campbell, Joel Courtney, Cameron Palatas, Aidan Alexander, Michael Chey, Brendan Calton, Nicholle Tom, Marnie Alexenburg, Adan Allende, Eric Beckerman, Luke Bilyk, Jill Cimorelli, Meg DeLacy, Mike gray, Richard Karn, Cheri Oteri, Madelaine Petsch, Lilly Singh, Ian Ziering

Blurb from Netflix: Maddy and Cole were inseparable before high school. Then she got popular; he didn’t. But after Maddy is betrayed, she and Cole reunite -- to ruin prom.

Selina’s Point of View:

It’s really easy to write this film off about ten minutes in.

I watched this movie with my husband and the moment Ian Ziering (Sharknado, Lavalantula, Sproutnado: Ocean Weather Report) walked on screen, he said, “Alright, if I see one shark, I’m out of here. I’m serious. One Finn reference…”

Now, you can’t really blame him – or anyone – for having that reaction. Hell, even I was like, “oooh, it’s THAT kind of movie.”

Ziering isn’t exactly known for starring in high quality stuff at the moment.

It didn’t help that the acting and script, off the bat, was so over-the-top exaggerated that it was super simple to sit back and roll my eyes. And that’s coming from me, a self-proclaimed lover of all things B.

The thing is that writing off F the Prom immediately was a bit of a mistake. That over-acting bullshit seemed to be purposely done to represent how we all remember our high school years a little differently. For those who enjoyed it, it’s remembered better than it was… and for those who didn’t, it’s remembered as a step above (or below) hell. I think the creators of this film were trying to exploit that in order to make their message heard.

And, yeah, there was a hell of a message.

Although the storyline, and feel, is reminiscent of pretty much every high school movie from Pretty in Pink (1986) to Angus (1995) to Mean Girls (2004)… the message seems to be a little different. It’s not much different, it’s still urging kids to not single people out because of differences; however, it takes a more modern stance. It looks at the way schools are today and that inevitable speech at the end? It’s worth listening to.

Would I call it a masterpiece? No. I think a lot of it gets lost in translation. Never-the-less, I did wind up enjoying it.

Cat’s Point of View:

I honestly am not quite sure what to think of this movie.

Part of that may be due to the fact that I can’t quite tell if this film was supposed to be a spoof or if it was actually taking itself seriously as a ‘teen movie.’ As much as the characters rolled their eyes about high school and prom being cliché – the whole production was just a chain of one after another. Now, don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with a helping of cliché now and again. I don’t think it made the movie BAD, per se – it just didn’t feel entirely fresh. It was more like F* the Prom took most of the existing teen movies out there and smushed them together with a modern social media presence spin.

I thought the small handful of reference Easter eggs were amusing. I don’t think there were quite enough to tug on my heartstrings with nostalgia, however.

I relate all too well with the students that didn’t fit in – that was completely the world I lived in while I was in middle school and junior high. High school was a roller-coaster but I didn’t have the same issues – but I understand all too well the layers of hell that kids often have to endure.

The film illustrated well the silly reasons why some kids just end up on the outskirts of the teen social scene, and the idea of ‘harmless’ revenge is somewhat satisfying. Unfortunately, I think that it just wasn’t over-the-top enough to be an effective spoof – and if it wasn’t supposed to be one, some parts of the movie were just a bit too loopy.

The casting here was pretty great, though. I can’t even begin to tell you how geeking out I was when I recognized Richard Karn (Ctrl, A Dog for Christmas, The Horse Dancer) and Cheri Oteri (The Ant Bully, Bad Parents, Grown Ups 2) as Maddie’s parents. I did have a giggle that Ian Ziering (Biker Mice from Mars, That's My Boy, Lavalantula) was Cole’s father.

My reaction may entirely be a generational thing, and current-day teens might get a lot more out of it than it might seem. All in all, the movie was fine – and even generally funny and moving. While it’s not something I would generally shout from the rooftops about, the message is one that I will always champion. I would recommend this film for the positive anti-bullying message, alone. 

Languages

Speech Available: English

Subtitles Available: English, French, Spanish

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 31%

Metascore - None

Metacritic User Score – None

IMDB Score – 4.3/10

Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 3/5

Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 3/5

Movie Trailer: