The Third Monday in October (2006)

Directors:

Vanessa Roth
Alexandra Dickson (co-director)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

A documentary on student council races in four different middle schools across the U.S. |

Runtime:

USA:91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Filming Locations:

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Company:

Big Year Productions

Soundtrack:

Maybe This'll Be My Year

Suffers from too many characters and poor editing

While this film could be touted as the next "Spellbound" given the subject matter; the actual film itself doesn't nearly live up to that kind of comparison. The film chronicles many students at 4 different schools around the country all vying for Presidential bids in their Jr. Highs. A great concept. But somehow it ended up being boring. We never feel any connection with any of the characters. This may be because there are too many. But more likely, the flaw lies in the editing. Rather than doing a character study, really delving into home-lives, getting perspectives of multiple teachers and students; the film tries to stretch the "competition" across 90 minutes. I'm sorry, but watching kids shop for posterboard, then making their posters, then carrying their posters, then putting up their posters just isn't that interesting. What should have been focused on was the politics of Jr. High Elections. That subject was only scratched upon. So were the mid-term elections against which the film is set. The movie suffers from an inconsistency in how the schools are approached, too many schools, a painful soundtrack, and the wrong execution. Still, watching kids get emotional about losing/winning an election is entertaining, but the film needed more than just an over-extended plot. 5/10.