Shortly before graduating from high school in 2005, I went to my prom, even though I didn't have a date. I went with a group of friends, and we rented a limo (which actually turned out to be a party bus) which took us to the Roostertail in Detroit, where prom was being held. The prom itself wasn't that great; what I remember most from the night was hanging out with my friends afterwards and driving home wearing flip flops at 3 AM. The kids in Prom, however, are determined to make this night the most magical of their entire high school careers, and although the movie is very "Disney" (cutesy, no bad language, etc.), it does have some "magical" moments.
Prom focuses on a few couples who are counting down till the "big day," and a few that aren't typical. Nova (Aimee Teegarden, "Scream 4") has been working very hard to make sure that prom is everything she and her friends want it to be. It's a night where "people can just forget about who they were in high school, and all come together in the moment," she says. She is hoping that her fellow coworker on the prom committee, Brandon (Jonathan Keitz, TV's "Entourage"), will ask her to go with him, but he hasn't asked her yet, and prom is fast approaching. Also on the committee are Rolo (newcomer Joe Adler) who insists that he is going with his girlfriend, a Greek Canadian, and Mei (Yin Chang, TV's "Gossip Girl"), who plans to go with her longtime boyfriend Justin (Jared Kusnitz, TV's "Surviving Suburbia"). The film also follows the soon-to-be prom king and queen, Tyler and Jordan (DeVaughn Nixon, "Monster Heroes," and newcomer Kylie Bunberry, respectively), whose relationship is currently a little rocky; Lloyd (Nicholas Braun, TV's "10 Things I Hate About You"), who is desperately seeking a date for prom; and good buddies Lucas (newcomer Nolan Sotillo) and Corey (Cameron Monaghan, TV's "Shameless"), sophomores who have been friends forever but whose friendship is drifting apart, as Lucas pursues a sophomore girl he is interested in (and whom another senior wants to ask to prom). The film could have been less complicated if it had dropped some of these stories - for example, by the time Rolo appeared again I had almost forgotten about his story - but they all are related to each other, and so I can see why they are all there.
Maybe see this movie. The film definitely had it's "cutesy" moments - some of the audience members were saying "Awww!" at some of them, making me laugh - and it has a strong first half, but then starts to drag a bit in the second, so by the time the dance actually starts, I was ready for the movie to end. There's definitely eye candy to be seen here - I was particularly enamored with "bad boy" Jesse (Thomas McDonell, "The Forbidden Kingdom"), who is assigned to work with Nova on the prom committee after doing something bad (the movie never really says what, exactly - driving a motorcycle? Causing general mayhem? He does cut class frequently, so that was probably it). My favorite storyline was that of Nicholas Braun's, as he asked about ten or so girls, very creatively, if they'd like to go to prom with him, but I may be a little biased because I used to love him in the TV show "10 Things I Hate About You." Prom is the first of what I like to call the "summer fluff" films - movies that you may enjoy while watching, but instantly forget about the next day - and if that is your type of movie, then you will enjoy it.
"Prom" is in theaters today, April 29th.
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Liz Parker is a 2009 graduate of the University of Michigan. She currently works as an Assistant Medical Editor for a pathology website. Visit her at her movie blog Yes/No Films
