Review of Struck by Lightning (2013) by Marcel M — 19 Jan 2013

Thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Made me really think about what I want to do with my life. I have been aimlessly drifting for far too long.

I really related to Carson. He was rather snarky and agressive in the beginning, but I soon understood why and I really sympathised with him having to put up with the shallow and unmotivated people who surrounded him.

Definitely recommend watching this film as it will really make you question so many things in your life dependent on which character you focus on each time.

Carson, Malerie, Sheryl, April, Neil and the grandmother were all characters I connected to in some way. They were so very real.

It was great watching a film where none of the characters were perfect. They were all very flawed and unlikeable in many ways, but I connected with their vunerability. I especially connected to Carson's drive and ambition and all his frustrations and anger at having to fight so hard to try escape form the stagnancy of small-town life and how that made him seem unlikable and as though he cared for no one, whereas in reality Carson's problem was that he cared too much. I rooted for him to succeed so much and he did , not in the way he thought he would, but he definitely won in the end.

This film is ten times more real than any high school film I have seen and much as I laughed in places, I could always feel the dark undercurrent of fear and desperation, from the characters, especially from Carson and Sheryl.

Brilliantly acted by all involved, but stand-out performances from Allison Janney, Christina Hendricks, Chris Colfer and Dermutt Mullroney.