Fans of Fast Times At Ridgemont High, 10 Things I Hate About You, Revenge Of The Nerds and The Breakfast Club cannot miss this amusing high school comedy movie.
The story follows Levi Collins, an affluent high school senior who finds his meticulously mapped future derailed on the eve of graduation when he discovers he has flunked his final science class. Bound by a suffocating family tradition and paralyzed by the fear of disappointing his hyper-competitive, tennis-obsessed father, Levi orchestrates an elaborate ruse: he tricks his principal into letting him walk across the graduation stage while secretly enrolling in a grueling, ten-day crash summer course to earn his actual diploma.
To maintain the illusion at home, he invents a fictitious summer job at a local rice cake factory, balancing his grueling tennis practice sessions with clandestine classroom hours where he must build an alternative-fuel vehicle to pass. Along the way, he falls for a fellow classmate, Katie, while navigating the strict oversight of his uncompromising science teacher, Ms. Bradford.
Operating within the well-worn grooves of the coming-of-age high school comedy, director Tom Morris attempted to inject an earnest, independent sensibility into a genre heavily dominated by the slick, studio-driven formula. While the narrative treads familiar ground, the critical consensus highlighted the commendable efforts of the ensemble cast; veteran character actors Larry Miller and Janeane Garofalo brought a seasoned, sharp comedic rhythm to their roles as Levi’s mismatched parents, infusing a distinct hyper-reality into the familial tension, while young lead Chris Sheffield carried the central deception with an endearing, frantic energy.
Released theatrically in late August 2012 before migrating to digital and home video markets, the film emerged at a time when the traditional teen sex comedy was giving way to more subdued, character-driven dramedies.
Audiences tracking the evolution of modern television comedy will spot an early, memorable appearance by Harvey Guillén long before his breakout, career-defining role as Guillermo de la Cruz in FX’s What We We Do In The Shadows. Furthermore, the film bridges generations of cinematic comedy by pairing Janeane Garofalo—the iconic, deadpan voice of 1990s alternative counterculture—with Larry Miller, the legendary master of neurotic, straight-laced authority figures, creating a fascinating stylistic juxtaposition on screen that mirrors the friction between the film’s indie aspirations and traditional studio ambitions.
Summer School (2012)
Genre: Comedy
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