10/10
Painfully realistic high school everyday life
2 December 2007
I usually don't comment on movies I watch even though I have a lot to say about a lot of movies. Although after watching this one I feel that I really have to make a comment about it. Because it is THAT good and THAT important.

This movie is about the everyday life in high school, focusing on the negative parts of that everyday life. It's mainly about Trevor, a boy who has been bullied for some time by a group of jocks. Although he's not the only victim. We follow him and see school from his perspective. How him and other people are being ridiculed and tortured every day. Some of them eventually snap. Some decide that it's payback time and that's what this movie is about. What happens when someone is pushed over that thin line and turns to violence for revenge.

What struck me the most watching this film was how utterly and painfully real the environment felt. This is the school I remember going to. This is the hierarchy and cruelty I remember taking place every day. In at least one comment I read that someone thought that this movie stereotyped people and especially the jocks and maybe that's the case. Still I can't but feel that some of the stereotyping is in fact quite accurate. Because it is the jocks and cheerleaders who are the popular ones, it is they who rule the school. Whether or not they're bullies or not. Bullies comes in many forms and this movies chose to use jocks as bullies. To me that feels unimportant. What feels important is how the movie shows us how things are. How some people take such pleasure in humiliating others and how those victims of bullying actually feel about being victimized. Their pain felt realistic and actually made my eyes tear up a couple of times.

Trevor is the most realistic portrayment of bullying I've ever seen in a movie. Because he appears to be so normal. There's nothing special or so called "weird" about his looks, his clothes, the way he acts or anything. He's just a kid that people chose to pick on, just like the bullies in the real world can choose anyone, for anything. There doesn't have to be reasons. What is just is. The character Trevor feels so real and his pain becomes real to you.

The acting is good. It's in fact REALLY good and all of the actors does a great job portraying their characters. And as for the play this movie is based on which we see parts of, it's amazing!

This movie is a important piece of work and the more so right now because of how common high school shootings are becoming and also because of the fact that this goes on every single day in hundreds of thousands of schools. Hopefully it can make some people think about things they perhaps don't notice.
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