Graduation Movie Review

It's never a good sign when a movie is released on DVD just weeks after its limited theatrical release. Still, you'll wonder how Graduation avoided going straight to DVD in the first place.

The premise of Graduation is stupid enough: Carl (Chris Marquette) needs $100,000 to pay for the medical treatment of his dying mother, so his posse concludes the only way to obtain this sum is to rob a bank. Gee, I wonder how else they can come up with 100 grand? The main character Polly's father (Adam Arkin) happens to be a bank owner. Perhaps he has 100 grand in his own savings, or at least a portion of it, that he can loan to Carl? Or how about a citywide fundraiser? No, even for Polly (Shannon Lucio), the high school's valedictorian, robbing her father's bank is the only logical step.

Graduation lacks the intentionally stupid jokes we're used to in other teen movies, but the sad part is it actually tries to be smart with its attempt at carrying out an elaborate bank heist -- which is so unrealistic and poorly thought-out it's insulting to the entire heist genre. For some reason, Polly and her crew have hours to stand around the bank's keypad to crack the alarm code without being caught. Only one security guard works for the bank -- and all it takes to get rid of him is a free vacation gift. I'd tell you the rest of the plan, but it'd spoil the movie, and frankly it's painful to write about.

To make matters worse, the majority of the movie is devoted to the students' lives outside of the heist. Teenage angst, confusion about the future, prom: With the exception of acne, every trivial teenage issue is packed into this movie, and the impending heist doesn't make things anymore interesting.







P.E. ain't what it used to be.