Adventures in Public School

"Adventures in Public School" (NR, 1:26) is a comedy from two guys who've spent most of their movie careers as actors and have only recently started working the other side of the camera - Kyle Rideout, who directs and, along with Josh Epstein, co-wrote the screenplay. (Each did the same for 2015's "Eadweard".) This movie was originally titled "Public Schooled" which seems a more fitting title. It's about a high school senior who was always home-schooled, but decides that, before he heads off to college, he wants to spend time in public school - and he really gets "schooled". (See what I mean?)

Daniel Doheny plays Liam, an extremely intelligent, but socially awkward young man. For what seems to be the entirety of his young life (the father's absence never being explained), Liam's mother (Judy Greer) has been his only teacher - and only friend - and they both seem perfectly happy with that - proud of it, even. Then, in a classic case of doesn't-know-what-he's-missing, when Liam goes to the local high school to take the exam he needs for his graduation certificate, he looks around at the school and all the students and decides he wants to finish his education there - but mostly so he can pursue the pretty Anastasia (Siobhan Williams). He intentionally fails his exam, giving him an excuse to enroll in the school.

The story's fairly formulaic, but not stale, in that it displays its own quirky charm. Liam makes mistakes, doesn't talk like most high schoolers and is atypically open and honest for his age group. The scenes of him adjusting to high school aren't laugh-out-loud hilarious, but they are cute, sweet and not uncomfortably awkward. For her part, Liam's mom, who was initially horrified that her son wanted to go to public school, soon gets with the program. Having taught Liam everything else so far, she helps him figure out how to make his rebellious phase as productive as possible and gets personally involved in this new world that's opening up to him. Meanwhile, Liam's socially awkward principal (Andrew McNee) is trying to date Liam's mom, and grandma (Maxine Miller) adorably observes events from the sidelines.

"Adventures in Public School" isn't a typical fish-out-of-water comedy. Liam's challenges never get too serious and his social awkwardness is nicely underplayed. Doheny brings his limited acting resume but considerable charm to the lead role. Rideout has the courage not to make him a stereotypical nerdy kid and the skill to make Liam sweet and adorable - not just because he's socially awkward, but also in spite of it. More experienced actors might've done a better job with some of the roles, but it's the fresh faces in the cast which account for much of this film's appeal. The same could be said of the lack of experience of the filmmakers vs. their fresh approach to the sub-genre of high school comedy. All things considered, it's this combination of elements that works well and makes for such a quirky, fun, feel-good movie. "A-"

Claire (Judy Greer) is the overprotective single mom of teenager Liam Heap (Daniel Doheny). She is dismissive of public high schools and has been homeschooling Liam everything including sex. He is book smart and headed for Cambridge to study Astrophysics following his hero Stephen Hawking. MacKenzie (Grace Park) is a fellow homeschool mom and Autumn is her even weirder daughter. The kids are at the local high school to take the Graduation Equivalency Exam. Liam falls for public school student, the one-legged Anastasia (Siobhan Williams) and deliberately tanks his test. He pushes his way to be a temporary student taking over sick Maria Sanchez's schedule. Everyone starts calling him Maria. Claire sees this as teenage rebellion and decides to teach it as part of his curriculum.

This is quirky and sometimes funny. Judy Greer is one of the best comedic actresses around. Daniel Doheny is a nice lead but he looks way too good. If anything, this needs more quirkiness. He needs to look nerdier. In general, the whole movie needs more. I love the premise but it needs to shoot for Napoleon Dynamite. There is plenty of potential of achieving that. There is a shocking surreal moment with a fetal pig well into the movie. It needs to do more and earlier or not at all. Either inanimate objects talk to him or they don't. For the students, Siobhan is a great ingenue but the others are lacking. It would have been great if Autumn joined Liam to attend high school. The gay friend needs to be more friend and less annoying. The bully needs to be more buff and younger. He looks like a 80s porn star with a 70s stach. Also, there is a general use of 80s motif like an old computer and an old family car which creates an odd feel in the modern world. The off-centre camera style is also part of that. The lighting is too bright at the school. The editing needs to be sharper and quicker to add pace and quirkiness to the style. It needs to be tighter which would shorten the under ninety minutes running time. The movie needs a few more stories and that's why I would love some more from Autumn. Quite frankly, MacKenzie is fun at the party and the movie needs more of her. There are many very good parts and this works on the whole.

The only person more socially awkward then Liam is his mom, but watching his mom project on him is just cringingly funny. I loved this movie

The premise is quite decent for a teen high school comedy, but it does not really go anywhere since the main character is far too stubborn to do anything and the movie just feels quite cringy with a lack of character, also the producers have decided to go with a really small pool of actors for this film, which is rather weird for a movie like this.

Well, i could not say it was absolutely boring, the movie had its funny moments, which where quite enjoyable, hence my rating is not as low as you would expect from what i have mentioned above. Acting wise Daniel Doheny and Judy Greer did an alright job in this movie, Judy Greer was in her usually vibe of her character ''Kitty Sanchez'' From back when she starred in ''Arrested Development''

This movie is just plain and mediocre, nothing to remember about this movie, it will disappear from your memory within days, i can bet soon after writing this review i will not remember what the movie was about, since it really is not anything outstanding. By the way, this flick only has 10 user reviews on imdb, most of them being fake good ratings, so do not fall for those reviews of throw-away imdb accounts consisting of only 1 review and 0 other activities.

'ADVENTURES IN PUBLIC SCHOOL': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)

A teen comedy about a socially awkward home-schooled teenager that enters public school for the first time, against his mother's wishes, in order to pursue a young woman he falls for. The film was directed by Kyle Rideout, and written by Rideout and Josh Epstein. The movie stars Daniel Doheny and Judy Greer, and it was released by Netflix through it's streaming site. I found the film to be funny and amusing enough. It's definitely nothing fresh or especially memorable, but I had a good time watching it still.