Assassination of a High School President

R

2008

1 hr. 39 min.

Comedy

Drama

Mystery & Thriller

List

55%

11 Reviews

Tomatometer

46%

50,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

After the theft of copies of SAT exams from a principal's office, teenage reporter Bobby Funke (Reece Thompson) sets out to unmask the thief. Bobby prints an article fingering Class President Paul Moore as the thief, shredding the youth's reputation. But as Bobby gets to know Paul's girlfriend, Francesca (Mischa Barton), he comes to realize he was wrong about Paul, so he sets out to unmask the true culprit.

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Steve D

Doesn't amount to a whole lot.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

10/07/23

Full Review

Liam D

not the worst attempt at dark comedy mixed with Noir Thriller I've seen but it isn't that memorable

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

11/20/22

Full Review

Audience Member

I am at a bit of a loss as to why this movie is so poorly rated. I'm not usually this out-of-sync with other people . . . but I thought the movie was very good. It's a John Hughes/Coen Brothers teen film noir - and it is hilariously funny at many points. Bruce Willis is great as a salty Gulf War veteran who is now the irritated and distracted principal of a Catholic high school. The dirt bag friends of the protagonist are hysterical too. The main character fancies himself a hard-nosed P.I. ala Mike Hammer as he navigates the fraught world of high school, college fraternities, SAT's, and teen lust and infatuation. Has a little of the feel of Bugsy Malone and 80's teen movies where kids inhabit their own crazy, independent world not governed by adult rules. It's also cinematically beautiful in the way it's shot. The film was never promoted and released in theaters because the film company that had it went into bankruptcy and it got caught up the legal wrangling. I think it's well worth the watch.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Legalzinho, mas para apenas regular, tipo, mescla mistério, comédia, sátira, muitas caricaturas, bem adolescente, legalzinho, e se mantém nisso, Mischa Barton belíssima, recentemente ciente dos abusos que sofrera quando mais jovem, talentosa e linda, com uma vida adulta quase arruinada por comportamento abusivo de macho escroto…

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Bruce Willis made this movie . He was absolutely perfect in his comedic role . This movie was actually a little gem that I certainly was not expecting 4.0. Anyone who rated this movie badly clearly missed the mark that this movie was not to be taken too seriously

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/25/20

Full Review

Audience Member

A detective noir throwback, set in a high school. That may sound pretty cool, but it's fairly uninteresting and features a bunch of unlikeable characters. This might all be kind of novel, if it wasn't just done, much better by Rian Johnson only a few years earlier in Brick...

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/13/20

Full Review

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Brett Simon

Director

Mischa Barton

Francesca Fachini

Reece Thompson

Bobby Funke

Bruce Willis

Principal Kirkpatrick

Michael Rapaport

Coach Z

Kathryn Morris

Nurse Platt

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To Die For

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Cliff Doerksen

Chicago Reader

The noir pastiche is sitcom-ish, the characters vestigial, and the satire of high school so compromised I wondered if cowriters Tim Calpin and Kevin Jakubowski weren't home-schooled

Feb 2, 2010

Full Review

Justin Chang

Variety

Basically Brick for remedial viewers.

Jan 25, 2008

Full Review

Stephen Farber

Hollywood Reporter

Doesn't find enough novel insights to make for essential viewing.

Jan 25, 2008

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

Think 'The Breakfast Club' meets 'Chinatown,' with a little 'All the President’s Men' and a lot of satirical swipes at high school cliques and teenage pecking orders thrown in.

Jan 6, 2024

Full Review

Prairie Miller

NewsBlaze

Superbad meets grossout noir, boasting tangy teen dirty talk so thick, you could cut it with a well sharpened pencil. Which by the way, somebody does more than once.

Oct 4, 2009

Full Review

Jason McKiernan

Filmcritic.com

The entire film wants to be a carbon copy of Rushmore, with the addition of dark slickness and the omission of general quality.

Rated: 2/5

Oct 1, 2009

Full Review

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Synopsis

After the theft of copies of SAT exams from a principal's office, teenage reporter Bobby Funke (Reece Thompson) sets out to unmask the thief. Bobby prints an article fingering Class President Paul Moore as the thief, shredding the youth's reputation. But as Bobby gets to know Paul's girlfriend, Francesca (Mischa Barton), he comes to realize he was wrong about Paul, so he sets out to unmask the true culprit.

Director: Brett Simon
Executive Producer: David Glasser, Bradley Jenkel
Screenwriter: Tim Calpin, Kevin Jakubowski
Production Co: Yari Film Group
Rating: R (Drug and Alcohol Use|All Involving Teens|Language|Sexual Content|Some Nudity)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): May 13, 2016

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