Best movie of this year hands down!

Simply A Masterpiece

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Invited to meet the President of the United States, a group of high school seniors try to make the bus trip as exciting as possible, much to the anguish of their easily irate principal, in this lively comedy starring Jeremy Renner long before his Oscar nomination for 'The Hurt Locker'. The film is weighed down by heavily stereotyped characters (geek, slob, smart girl, prissy young teacher, etc) and at least a third of the gags backfire, but the ones that work are very, very funny thanks to great comic timing from all concerned. Matt Frewer is particularly energetic as the stuffy principal and Lawrence Dane is perfectly vile as a corrupt senator, while Tommy Chong is a lot of fun playing pretty much himself as the bus driver. There is also a wonderfully uncanny subplot involving a 'Star Trek' fanatic who believes that he has a mission to stop the bus arriving at its destination. The film additionally features two hilarious fake movies: one, a 1950s style film about contraception; the other, a pornographic version of 'Forrest Gump'! Oddly enough, the film does not really offer any real ideas regarding the future of education given that the students are traveling to Washington to discuss such matters, but this is a bubbly comedy first and foremost and an enjoyable one at that with Frewer even nicely learning how to bond with his students along the way.

This is a really, really bad movie which explains the Alan Smithee direction. The premise was good but this is a movie for children who have never seen Animal House, Airplane, or the Naked Gun. Because this movie goes nowhere fast is an understatement. The only funny scenes involved the guy from New Kids in the Hall playing with his Star Trek blow up doll. But aside from that, we have a bunch of kids drinking and puking and not much of anything else. Do not watch this movie. Even the ending was STUPID!! I still don't understand how people can make movies stink so bad. They could have had more scenes with the principal and the typing teacher but that would have involved lesser known actors so that they would have taken their clothes off. Or they could have had the students actually catch the bad congressman having sex with one of the students. I can not reiterate how awful this movie is. I sat there waiting for something funny to happen and even waited for ending hoping something would salvage this painstaking road I had wondered down. Instead I felt like I had watched a movie that will barely keep anyone's attention under the age of ten.

This is a great movie! While it may seem immature at times, this movie is amusing no matter how many times you have seen it. The cast is excellent, especially Jeremy Renner, aka Dags. The students in it will remind you of your high school days. The smart girl, the geeky kid, the burnouts, the fat kid, etc. The plot is an important part but along the way, little things are added. One example is a vindictive crossing guard who thinks he is one of the Star Trek crew members. He follows the bus, trying to get back at one of the kids. He has his blowup doll and his water-gun of a laser. The antics that ensue on this trip are very memorable and I can guarantee you'll have to see it again to catch it all!

What you see is what you get. Don't come in expecting anything but a low-brow stoner comedy. This is not Animal House. That was over 20 years ago - standards have dropped - National Lampoon ain't what she used to be. But it's still very much enjoyable, especially if you can relate to the knuckle-headed activities presented. It's dumb fun for drunks, stoners, and those who dare to be stupid. My only real complaints: 1. the whole Dags/Lisa romance - Who cares? I know that the formula calls for it but it was just a waste of time, get to the gags already! Lisa in particular was a completely uninteresting character. 2. Not enough Nicole DeBoer! Oh man is she hot in this and yet she's relegated to the background.