Good idea lost in the noise

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Assassination of a High School President is a mystery/comedy mishmash in which neither the mystery nor the comedy are really any good. The story unfolds in a high school, where Bobby Funke writes for the paper. Except he's never actually finished a story. But he gets his big break when he's assigned to do an article on student body president Paul Moore. Then the school principal discovers the completed SATs have been stolen from his office. Intrepid reporter Bobby Funke is on the case. He ties Paul Moore to the crime and writes an article incriminating him, pretty much ruining Paul's life. His sleuthing has earned Bobby newfound popularity amongst his classmates but he soon begins to have doubts. Was Paul really guilty? Or was he just a pawn in some sort of grand conspiracy? Bobby resumes sleuthing but unfortunately for the viewers nothing particularly interesting or funny happens while he does.Reece Thompson does a reasonably decent job with the role of Bobby but the script does him few favors, especially with the way it uses Bobby as a narrator who narrates seemingly every second of the movie. This grows tiresome very quickly, especially as much of the narration is meant to be funny but is not. Meanwhile the film's central mystery ends up not being very mysterious, you'll figure the whole thing out long before Bobby does. The film's obviousness drains much of the drama away. And the film really struggles for momentum. The plot, such as it is, moves forward at glacial pace. Some scenes are absolutely interminable. Humor falls flat. Really the only guy to draw any laughs is Bruce Willis playing the quite strange principal. Willis has his moments, injecting some life into the dull proceedings. Mischa Barton has a big role as the school's resident hot girl. The film tries to set her character up as some sort of femme fatale but neither the actress nor the character convinces. By the end rather than coming together the film pretty much unravels. You can see where the movie's going, you don't like where it's going, and you got very little entertainment out of it along the way. No way to spin this as anything other than a big disappointment.

I had never heard of this movie and found it laying around in one of my friends large DVD collections. After reading the back I thought I would hate it. I don't know why I torture myself watching movies that I think are going to make me cry to the gods to stop people from making these horrible artsy films, but I do. It seemed like a low budget stylized sort of art film that managed to pull in some mid level stars and in aging one in Bruce Willis. Not my kind of film. I was wrong!(apparently ignoring my gut turns out to be a good idea, but usually it's still torture)This was really a fun quirky, little movie that I actually enjoyed. The story is fairly sophomoric. A high school cheating scandal that the student newspaper, and the grizzled old war veteran Principal (Bruce Willis) are trying to get to the bottom of.The acting in this one is admittedly over the top, but that is the strength of this movie. It is suppose to be over the top which provides the humor throughout. Mischa Barton plays the pretty girl, so that was no stretch, Bruce Willis's tough guy image works wonderfully for his character as well.I won't get into the whole plot/ storyline as anyone can read it above, but it was a pleasantly surprising, humorous story that I would definitely recommend. I am usually not even into this kind of movie but I really enjoyed it. It was much better than sitting through another stupid Harry Potter movie that's for sure.So if you find yourself bored with nothing to watch, pop this fun little gem in the DVD player. Its a fun one that I think is definitely underrated and worth a view.Like my reviews? Hate em? Questions? Comments? Have a DVD that you want reviewed? SHoot me an e-mail at: subliminal.lithium@gmail.com

ASSASSINATION OF A HIGH SCHOOL PRESIDENT is a big step above most of the teen movies that focus on potty mouth dialogue and absurd situations just to get laughs. Writers Tim Calpin and Kevin Jakubowski have come up with a script that is sometimes smart but ultimately full of holes in deciding where it wants to take the original premise of this high school movie. Director Brett Simon seems to sort of let the movie flow as it develops, preventing a tight telling of a story with potential. Bobby Funke (Reece Thompson, a promising new talent) is a nerdy newspaper reporter who is never able to finish a story. Student Body President/basketball star/ladies' man Paul Moore (Patrick Taylor) seems to have everything Bobby wants, including the attention of the school's most beautiful girl Francesca (Mischa Barton). As fortune would have it a crime happens - the SATs are stolen from the office of Principal Kirkpatrick (Bruce Willis playing Bruce Willis) and Booby is on the investigation and story, a story that points to Paul as the perpetrator. Bobby's nerdiness is transformed by his attention and by the affections of Francesca, and soon the school collapses under the cloud of the crime. It is how the 'crime' is inspected and resolved that ends the film. For Bobby Funke it is a matter of 'What price glory'. The cast is fresh and it is a pleasure to see some new faces with promise. Whether it is the director's or the sound mixer's fault, much of the dialogue is swallowed by the soundtrack, a problem thankfully solved by turning on the subtitles. This is a movie with promise from all involved and it will be interesting to see if it has an impact on teen flick quality. Grady Harp

ASSASSINATION OF A HIGH SCHOOL PRESIDENT – CATCH IT ( B- ) The movie came out to be quite a pleasant surprise in the end. The movie started off with typical notion of a geek, bunch of jocks, a hot girl in school attire. Reece Thompson character in the beginning looked like a continuation of his character in "Rocket Science" and as the movie progresses he becomes more annoying and some times over the top. There were many times I just wanted to punch him in the face. Reece Thompson did a annoying yet decent job in the movie as a lead protagonist. Micha Barton looks HOT (off course), Luke Grimes, Zack Roering, Patrick Taylor, Josh Caras, Melonie Diaz, Tania Fischer, Vincent Piazza and Bruce Willis did a good job. Sometimes this movie is irritating and sometimes really gripping plus the ending is worth it and its smart/sharp too. Watch it in spare time!