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“General Education” has got a terrific cast with whom I enjoyed spending time. There are a few recognizable stars, along with some young up-and-comers who deserve to rise high. And this high school comedy (with dramatic notes) has a lot of energy and verve.
What it lacks is a modicum of originality. It’s got a very sitcom-y feel to it, with recognizable character archetypes and familiar plotlines. It’s got a plug-and-play feel to it, like you could swap out the actors and filmmakers for another set and end up with a very similar result.
Chris Sheffield has great screen presence as Levi Collins, a BMOC at Hill High. He comes from a well-to-do family, has natural flash and charm and even is in line for a plum tennis scholarship at Forestwood, the local university. One small problem: He spends so much time playing tennis that he has he failed science and can’t graduate — let alone accept an athletic scholarship.
So he resolves to make up the class during the summer, somehow without letting his parents (Larry Miller and Janeane Garofalo) know about it. Unfortunately, the class is led by the same hardcase teacher (Elaine Hendrix) who flunked him.
There is a pretty, cool girl named Katie (a winsome Maiara Walsh) to whom Levi takes a shine, though she’s got a secret. And hanging around the periphery is his laughingman of a nemesis, Chad Worthington (Tom Maden), who, wouldn’t you know, is his main competition for the scholarship.
Levi’s sidekick is Charles (Skylan Brooks), who actually introduces himself by saying, “I’m his sidekick.” Charles is only 13 but somehow goes to the same high school and, for some reason, runs around barefoot.
A few other likeable figures populate the background. There’s Bebe (Mercedes Masohn), a guidance counselor who’s enthusiastically upbeat even when discussing disaster; Levi’s prodigal brother, Brian (Bobby Campo), a failed tennis pro; a dude-ish best friend, Shady Nick (Seth Cassell); and schoolmate Opie (Peter S. Williams), who tries to be a hateful redneck but isn’t particularly good at it.
It’s a wonderful group, and I really wish the filmmakers — director Tom Morris co-wrote the screenplay with Jaz Kalkat and Elliot Feld — gave them better material with which to work. Instead, we get a lot of obvious humor and warmly-layered life lessons, presented cheerfully but without much genuine flair.
The movie’s rhythms often seem off, so moments that should have power and punch end up sort of whisking by without any impact, while stuff that should be disposable hangs around much too long.
“General Education” contains a few fun, quirky elements, but they end up getting buried under a pile of middlebrow comedy.
(Also: What’s up with the title? Aside from being flat and unmemorable, it doesn’t even have the distinction of being accurate. Levi is retaking earth science, which is anything but general ed. Unless it’s supposed to refer to the life lessons stuff, in which case … it still isn’t any good.)
2.5 Yaps