Contest (2013)

A bullied high school student is suddenly befriended by his chief tormentor and together they face challenges that will change their lives forever.

Director:

Anthony Joseph Giunta

Writer:

Anthony Joseph Giunta (screenplay)

Stars:

Kenton Duty, Danny Flaherty, Mary Beth Peil

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kenton Duty	...	Matt Prylek
Danny Flaherty	...	Tommy Dolen
Mary Beth Peil	...	'Gran' Angela Maria Tucci
Katherine McNamara	...	Sarah O'Malley
Kyle Dean Massey	...	Kyle Prylek
Talon G. Ackerman	...	Will Terkin
Chris Riggi	...	Ned
Raviv Ullman	...	Rip
Jan Uczkowski	...	Philip King
Owen Teague	...	Bobby Butler
Kelley Missal	...	Anya Bartosh
Jake Schwencke	...	Quigs (as Jake Evan Schwencke)
Alex Boniello	...	Joe
Megan Channell	...	Abby Peerson
Dan Fabi	...	Dennis

Storyline

Bullied high school student Tommy (Daniel Flaherty) is suddenly befriended by his chief tormentor, Matt (Kenton Duty), the school's most popular student and star athlete. Tommy is suspicious, but is forced to accept the awkward friendship in order to enter a cooking contest with a big prize. And besides, it's so much easier to impress his crush, Sarah (Katherine McNamara), when he's not getting beat up by Matt and his team. As the cooking contest heats up, Sarah sniffs out a conspiracy, but nobody wants to hear about it. Can Tommy trust his budding friendship with Matt or is it all a huge joke on him?

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Plot Keywords:

gay subtext | teenage boy | homosexual subtext | friendship | cooking contest | 

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Taglines:

Some Friendships are an Acquired Taste

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Genres:

Drama | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for some bullying, rude humor and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

5 October 2013 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Liberty, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Contest LLC, Percolate Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

A number of the actors and crew have been involved in anti-bullying efforts around the country prior to being attached to Contest.

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Quotes

Tommy Dolen: MY FACE?NOTHING.actually I took on fifty guys at school who wanted to ask you out!
Sarah O'Malley: UH,HUH!

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Soundtracks

I Really Want It
Performed by A Great Big World
Written by Ian Axel & Chad Vaccarino
Produced & Mixed by Dan Romer
Published by Ian Axel/BMI & Chad Vaccarino/BMI

User Reviews

Not quite over the top attempt to showcase bullying

When I saw "bullying", I thought "Oh, geez, another over-the-top, sensitive, feel-good movie that doesn't make a real point." but Contest isn't so far off from real life, although it tosses in a few over-the-top points, which are supposed to help the viewer become aware, not distract them from the message.

It's obvious that it would be tricky to attack bullying without seeming ridiculous, especially since no one really knows how to handle it in real life. I suspect that everyone has been bullied in real life, especially the bullies, but dealing with it in in real life always seems to be non-confrontational.

It's also obvious that everyone in the film tried to make it work and that there was some good chemistry between the characters. Daniel Flaherty's character, Tommy, seems as good a victim as you would hope--someone who just can't catch a break, but still hard-working and caring. It's evident in a scene where he's being swindled by another teen who says his parents lost their jobs. Kenton Duty's character, Matt, doesn't really seem a bully though his brother Kyle does, but that he doesn't want to be bullied, so he goes along with it rather than be ostracized by the rest of the team, and tries to have some fun along the way. Katherine McNamara's character, Sarah, is the intelligent, don't-take-no-for-an-answer type. Tommy's grandmother is the only character that seemed unrealistic, as she wanted to cook for the bullies, to ply them with food, to make them see reason. I don't know of any place in the northeast where that works and I don't recall a grandmother who wasn't at least a little feisty. Still, along the way she has words of wisdom and becomes the voice of reason.

There is plenty of scheming and double-dealing and you might need a score card to keep up with who is on which side. Sarah seemed to be keeping up with most everything, but strangely never threatened.

In the end, things work out pretty well for Tommy, despite the minor disasters and soul-searching but all the scheming behind the scenes because of Kyle and Joe made me wonder if Matt was safe. Kyle and Joe didn't seem to learn or regret and there weren't any real consequences that would make them change their minds. Wrapping up the story with a perfect ending is fine when you don't have a fabric store full of loose threads, like a 1960s sitcom.