Not bad, not great

Rating: 6/10 (5 July 2008)

I am two generations removed from the high school seniors in this movie, but seeing the movie reminded me of the famous quote of Jean-Baptiste Karr, "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose" (the more things change, the more they stay the same). The language now may be cruder and the sex more upfront, but the staples stay the same: friendship, sex, profanity, booze, awkwardness, social classes, porn, impending life changes, and so forth. All the modern innovations don't seem to have changed the equation much, if this movie is in fact representative.
Even though the language is pretty raw, the thing I liked about it was how comfortable the kids were with it, like it was just the way they expressed themselves and there was nothing particularly wicked or immoral about it. All three of the main characters are quite likable.
The movie is too long - the scenes with the policemen were the least effective and could have been pared down a lot.
If my high school experience is any indication, the penis drawings are *way* too creative to have been drawn by any male high schooler. Whoever drew them really got into it - makes you wonder about such a person.
If the math teacher is at all typical, then I can understand why many people give up on ever understanding the subject. His statement that, "'i' is an imaginary number, it doesn't really exist" is worthy of rolled eyes and despairing glances. Why did nobody ask why it was being discussed if it does not exist?
I really liked the opening credits and they led me to expect more than I got which, I admit, is one of the better entries in the genre (which is not all that much praise). I just felt this movie does not live up its hype.