Stay Cool (2009)

Director:

Michael Polish

Writer (WGA):

Mark Polish (written by)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

An author who returns to his hometown to deliver a commencement address to a class of graduating high school students has to deal with his feelings for an old flame as well as the advances of a student who has the hots for him.

Cast

Mark Polish	...	Henry McCarthy
Winona Ryder	...	Scarlet Smith
Hilary Duff	...	Shasta O'Neil
Sean Astin	...	Big Girl
Josh Holloway
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ashley Bell	...	Ashley - Valedictorian
Catherine Black	...	Raven Goth
Marc Blucas	...	Brad Nelson
Scott Michael Campbell	...	Officer Johnson
Joanna Cassidy
Chevy Chase	...	Principal Marshall
Andrew Coffing	...	Mike Smith
Frances Conroy	...	Mrs. Looch
Jon Cryer	...	Javier
Noah Greenwood	...	Basketball Player
Michael Gross	...	Mr. McCarthy
Emily Happe	...	WR TV Host
Brandon G. Holley	...	Skater kid #2
Jessica Schatz	...	Mrs. O'Neil
David Shackelford	...	John John
Jenn Shagrin	...	Jungle Journalist #1
Jessica St. Clair	...	Darcy
Josh Sussman	...	Jungle Journalist #2
Silver Tree	...	Angie
Karmyn Tyler	...	Beauty Shop Receptionist
Dee Wallace	...	Mrs. Mccarthy
Troy Williams	...	Jock
Matthew Woodward	...	The Skater Kid

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Company:

Initiate Productions

17 Again in Reverse

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Can the high school geek who morphed into a best selling author finally bury his adolescent angst by retuning home to give the commencement address? And what about the cute cheerleader he was too shy to call after graduation - even though she asked him to? "Stay Cool" offers a fresh re-telling those familiar stories with a cast of quirky characters that will make you laugh and plenty of memorable lines that you'll long remember.

The film does its work by taking "17 Again" in reverse.

In "17 Again" high school king Zack Efron/Matthew Perry becomes a teen again to deal with issues he could not face as an adult. In "Stay Cool," former bottom feeder, Henry McCarthy (Mark Polish), is an adult, but remains trapped in a 20 year time warp because he never really grew up in the eyes of his hometown.

His parents tell him to eat his veggies and eavesdrop on his phone calls – while Principal Marshall (Chevy Chase) even goes as far as to suspend him from school.

Henry soon learns that to find peace he'll have to deal with issues he avoided long ago. The director-writer Polish brothers make Henry learn his lessons the hard way – from getting busted by the cops to attending the prom. At the Tribeca Film Festival premiere, director Michael Polish says he and his twin Mark crammed 20 years of dealing with high school pain into their movie. "Everything is there."

Complicating his quest is high school hottie Shasta O'Neil (Hillary Duff) who has a crush on Henry. And helping him are high crazy pals – gay hairdresser Big Girl and a butch tattoo artist played by "Lost's" John Holloway.

Of course the big unresolved issue is Henry's life is his high school crush Scarlet Smith (Winona Ryder). Weird, too, since the love interest in "17 Again" is also named Scarlett. As their reunion progresses, we learn, as Big Girl (Sean Austin) observes, that Henry "didn't come back to speak to a thousand people, he came back to speak to one."

And as Henry slowly finds his voice – and the words to his speech – he learns, as Scar told him long ago - how to "Stay Cool."