 | Studios: | Fox Searchlight Pictures |
| Release: | December 23, 2005 | |
| Genre: | Comedy | |
| MPAA Rating: | PG-13 for crude and sexual humor, drug references. |
I must really like this movie enough to even write a review in Yahoo!:
Surprisingly delightful
by jingfrey Oct 28, 2007
Overall Grade: B- Story: D+ Acting: B Direction: B- Visuals: B-
Saw this on cable last night. This movie has a bad premise - a lame excuse to plant a character into a situation: a guy needs money and hopes to get it by joining and fixing the Special Olympics. I was glad I stuck around to finish the movie. In a surprising and refreshing twist, we see a side to the mentally disabled that's rarely shown on movies. It does not ask the viewer to feel sorry for them. The movie tells us that they are aware of how most people perceive them, that they can read into situations, and that they can even pull a sweet prank or two on "normal" guys. I ended up being a fan of the Kids of Widney High after this movie.
What's cool is that this movie shows us how in the world of Special Olympics, crushes, jealousies, and cliques exists. Shows us that certain human behaviour pops up anywhere, regardless of culture, environment or mental abilities.
Three of the actors here are actually current or former participants in the Special Olympics. John Taylor and Edward Barbanell both have Down's Syndrome and are part of Jeffy's gang. The third one is Leonard Flowers who plays Jimmy - the crowd favorite everyone is jealous of. Yup, Flowers was really cool playing the arrogant star athlete. Edward Barbanell playing the stage "divo" at the end was also cute. He has played in theatre productions prior to this movie debut, and it shows. He's really confident on stage and has no trouble with delivering lines.
Special Mention: This movie exposed me to, and made me a fan of the Kids of Widney High. These are special education students who have actually released CDs. Some songs are covers like "RESPECT" which played at the end of this movie, and some are originals, like the catchy "Pretty Girls". I actually waited for the credits to find out the name of the group. I'll be writing about them in a separate post later.
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