Monday, July 10, 2006

Spoilers with Candy

I have taken care not to totally ruin the movie for those who haven't yet seen it, because I don't know how to set up a post so that the bottom part of it is hidden. But don't read on if you want to go into the theater with no backround knowledge whatsoever.

"Strangers with Candy," the movie, is the nightmare you have about high school that seems almost real enough to be true, but then there's just that something a bit off. The teacher's lounge is an actual, wood-panelled lounge. The two teachers who seem like they might be gay and might have something going on not only are and do, but pass each other obscene notes between class. An "expert," played by Matthew Broderick, is called in to help the school win a science fair project. Some aspects of the film seem not the least bit exaggerated--I swear I had Mr. Noblet for social studies, and for those readers who were in my class, you know exactly what I mean. The crying, the weird leg-on-chair gestures followed by an ominous "stay after class!", goodness that seemed familiar. But for the most part, it truly does look like what you see right before the alarm goes off, when you're running late to class, yet for some strange reason you're not 16 anymore, and for some even stranger reason, your guidence counselor is Carrie Bradshaw, and she expects a tip. For this alone, the movie is amazing. That, and Amy Sedaris is a genius. But these are two separate things--the alternate world of nightmare-high-school is worth seeing even if you find Jerri Blank's offensive, hideous, racist persona hard to take.

No comments: