Movie #1556 ........................."Eighth Grade"

Movie #1556 "Eight Grade" --- ewwww!  this movie reminded me just how awkward we all probably were back in middle school.........and this girl's performance (if you can call you that) hits it right on the head because she doesn't look like she's acting at all --- She does an advice video on a daily basis that says absolutely nothing, as far as advice.  She has a crush on a "bad boy" instead of focusing more on the nerd who tries to talk to her at a pool party.  She decides since she will be attending high school next year that she should start taking chances.....baby steps, but the one time she does, does not turn out well --- uh oh, two steps back.  Her dad is wonderfully played by Josh Hamilton (stage performer) who seems again to be this girl's real father --- he tries so hard you want to put your arm around him and say, "There, There."  Not sure the film is for everyone......it's getting a whopping 98% from the critics at rotten tomatoes.com --- critics like this slice of life.  But audience scores are in the 80s because, well, it's uncomfortable --- laughing is oftentimes done to cover up how slow or awkward a scene or line is.  The film IS slow --- has lots of gaps, lots of repetition. But it definitely shows the life of an eighth grader in this day and age, where social media is so darn tough on the nice people who just want some attention and want to fit in.  Big question I had as I left the theatre --- would eighth graders like the film?  I asked a grandmother sitting behind me that had two kids, one going into eighth grade and they said they liked it, and grandma was happy the kids saw it (good for them, she said, even though the kids  said one scene was not appropriate (it's the banana scene --- you can guess what that is about!) but this grandma thought it was tame (the banana scene in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" was pretty controversial, the way I remember it -- times change).  But I don't know --- I'm thinking a discerning, thinking eighth grader might get it, but maybe it might be more appreciated by   high schoolers looking back?  if they do that?  I'd give it a 4.

"EIGHTH GRADE"      2018      RATED R (hah!  it's that banana scene!)

As Kayla Day begins the last week of a difficult year in eighth grade, the emotional perils of adolescence swirl around her. Though she's comfortable with her online persona, the looming social challenges of high school terrify her.

Cast: Elsie Fisher, Josh Hamilton, Frank Deal