Review of Assassination of a High School President (2008) by Pravin P — 27 Oct 2009

I hadn't seen a trailer before starting with the movie, and so had no idea what exactly it was gonna be like, except the small plot summary (that I got from imdb).. I watched it basically coz it was a comedy about school students and well I like stuff like American Pie, Porky's and all.. That was mostly what I had in mind.. This one turned out to be one big surprise package..

First up, "ve never seen a noir-comedy.. I didn't even know such a genre existed! There were a lot of scenes that reminded me of movies like Max Payne (not that I particularly liked Max Payne, but the effects were good).. The best part about the movie is, all of these supposedly-serious looking scenes make you laugh! There 's this scene in which the president of the high school goes on a rampage with a paint ball gun.. The build up to the scene is very much like that you 'll see in thrillers - interleaved scenes showing the to-be-victims and the assassin, the gun (oh yeah, it looks very much like an M4 Carbine), the finger pressing on the trigger.. You know that there's something fake about it, just that you don't figure out what it is until the shots are fired and there's red paint everywhere.. I wouldn't give out more coz its actually something you have to watch to enjoy.

The lead actor, Reece Thompson is just wonderful.. I've seen him in 'Rocket Science' and I thoroughly believed then, that the guy had a genuine stutter.. He's such a natural and this role (Bobby Funke - pronounced 'funk' though everyone calls him 'funk-ey') as a school newspaper writer who digs up nasty things happening in his school, suited him perfectly well..

Among the others - Mischa Barton mesmerized with her looks and I guess I didn't notice if she was acting well or not (yeah, I read in almost all reviews that she can't act).. Bruce Willis as Principal Kirkpatrick was spot on too.. I thought most of the support cast did a good job, except maybe Patrick Taylor (the school president) was a little over the head..

Highly recommended..