| Product: |
St Trinian's (DVD) |
| Date: |
23.04.08 (173 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Good Teen Comedy
Disadvantages: Nothing major - a bit lightweight
I have to say I always really liked the old St Trinian's movies, and was brought up on the work of Joyce Grenfall and Alistair Sim. This one is different I think, in that it is aimed at a teen market, rather than an adult one, and has been brought bang up to date, at times resembling a pop video with a sound track featuring Girls Aloud. However, I still found it a lot of fun.
New girl Annabelle (Tallulah Riley) is horrified to find she is no longer attending Cheltenham Ladies College but at St Trinian's which she describes as "Hogwarts for Pikeys" run by her aunt Camilla Fritton (Rupert Everett). To say she has a hard time fitting in is an understatement! Whilst the 'grown ups' get top billing, this is more of an ensemble piece with much of the film is taken up by the antics of the girls. Typical to the old movies the girls receive hardly any discipline and generally do as they please, and the teachers aren't much better. The girls' are divided up into groups such as Chavs, Posh Totty, Emo and Geek. The pranks are brought up to date with the help of geek leader Polly (supermodel Lily Cole) and the girls are still fencing dodgy goods through Flash Harry (Russell Brand). The school has hit financial difficulties, plus its reputation is in tatters making it a target for Education Minister Geoffrey Thwaites (Colin Firth) to want to close the school down. The girls get wind of this and decide it is time they took matters into their own hands to secure the school's future by fair means or foul (usually the latter).
Performances of note include Firth and Everett (who also plays Miss Fritton's brother Carnaby), newby Annabelle and Head Girl Kelly (Gemma Arterton). In fact all the girls do well, they don't really get enough screen time to excel however, and nothing seriously dramatic is required of them. Russell Brand is OK as Harry and was less irritating than I expected. The film isn't really about one person and keeps moving with a good pace. It isn't the funniest movie you will ever see but it was amusing and did make me laugh out loud in places. It seems Colin Firth will never live down his Darcy role...The humour is not always slapstick and sauciness, there are some subtleties in there and it has obviously been well thought out with some pastiches taken from classic movies and a few name checks to more contemporary movies. Of course, the plot is slightly predictable and sometimes a bit silly, but it won me over just because it was so entertaining and light hearted. Director Oliver Parker does a good job in keeping the pace up and the audience engaged.
I would recommend this film to most people. Of course it isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea if you don't like your comedies too far fetched. This isn't a re-make of any of the old films, but a stand alone contemporary version for the Noughties.
Summary: A new contemporary film
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