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Moder noir-ish detective story set in a private high school.

Who ever said the wold of high school journalism was not high stakes?  Sure, back when I was in school it was all sports scores and fluff pieces on the latest creations in the cafeteria.  Everything culminates in the production of the yearbook which the students will be stuck with forever.  There are some schools who have more active school newspapers but I have never heard of any causing as much of a stir as the big scoop in Assassination of a High School President.  This witty look into the world of a high school plagued with corruption is funny and highly engrossing. 

Bobby Funke (Reece Thompson) is a sophomore at St. Donovan’s High who aspires to be like his journalism heroes Woodward and Bernstein.  His chance comes when all of the SAT booklets are stolen from the principal’s (Bruce Willis) office.  While trying to uncover who could have taken them all signs point to the star basketball player, and student body president, Paul Moore (Patrick Taylor).  Funke, pronounced “funk” though everyone calls him “funky,” suddenly becomes very popular with everyone, especailly Moore’s ex-girlfriend Francesca (Mischa Barton).  Paul swears he was framed and in his search for the truth Bobby delves deep into the seedy underworld of student government.

Throughout the film Funke takes twists and turns in his search for what truly happened to those SAT answer books in ways usually reserved for mysteries or a detective story.  Some parts of the plot are kind of easy to figure out, but the payoff does bring a few new things and keeps you thinking the whole time.  Add to that the modern day setting an a film noir-ish vibe and there is a definite winner here.  If you have seen the film Brick from a few years ago and enjoyed that story, this is surely a kindred spirit.  The young man stops at nothing, and has his source of informants along the way.  There are even odd phone calls received at various points in his journey from someone fact checking his story who mysteriously knows his whereabouts.  Much of this is a bit tongue-in-cheek, but it all works very well to tell this whodunit in a fresh and entertaining way. 

The cast is what really makes this transcend beyond the great script to something that really pulls you in all the way.  Thompson is a relatively new face as a leading man, but with his portrayal of this determined character he is sure to be in demand.  The O.C.‘s Mischa Barton plays the hottest girl at St. Donavan’s very well and makes it easy to see why a guy would be wrapped around her finger.  Willis is wonderful as the soldier-turned-school administrator, and even though their parts are brief Michael Rapaport and Kathryn Morris, as the coach and nurse respectively, add some fine moments of laughter. 

It’s a shame this film got such a small and brief limited theatrical run, but at least everyone can see it now on DVD from Sony.  Aside from the film, the disc has a feature length commentary track with fairly newbie director Brett Simon and writers Tim Caplan and Kevin Jakubowski (who worked together on South Park).  There are also nearly thirty minutes of alternate, extended or deleted scenes with the option of more commentary.

Assassination of a High School President is a fun new film with plenty of old school charm.  People of any age will enjoy themselves, but adults may like it even more than current students.

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