Background On Education
Before things got rough and the wars came about, education stood for one thing; which was to better the minds of the youth and to improve the quality of life.
The schooling institutions then took this on as a challenge and created rules and regulations as well as core values.
And throughout our lifetimes we have forgotten that education is not about grades, it's not about brand or commercialism it's about the mind and how we come about to nurture them.
Obviously, core values are in place for basic learning and improvement to better the minds and evolve them, but when we grow and evolve ourselves our perceptions change our tastes change and the outside world, changes with us.
I love education I really do. It's the schooling institutions that got me down. Just the other day, I walked around my University and saw all these people rushing and pushing and talking about their upcoming exams instead what they wanted to do, and what they were passionate about. Coursework that only benefits to get into finals and complete the course unit by the end of the semester. When did this all become a competition for a singular letter in the alphabet?
Well, this movie challenges the notions of traditional learning which is very much still relevant even though it might be slightly dated.
The Mindset
Well first things first this movie does set the tone about the mindset of everyone around them, parents, friends, teachers, relatives, etc.
But it also does have it's comedic moments.
Now it also fascinates me that this movie got an audience score higher than the critic's score but nowadays, we see it more and more in DC films than anything. But, I think I understand why some critic's don't like this movie. Because from the get-go, you know what you're going to get it's the guy who will prove the other wrong and the pompous guy would go "Oh, how unorthodox"
But it's the movie that suckers me in as well, I can't help it, I like seeing people thrive above.
And what fascinates me is I've watched this movie before but I've never noticed the cast, and found that, Robin Lord Taylor; Penguin from Gotham; was in this movie and I was pleasantly surprised.
But back to the mindset of this movie as well because it's rhetoric does seem to have some thought behind them, albeit some just tread on cliches and troupes that we've seen before and that might grate on some critic's and it did me too and I felt that there were some scenes where you could have made them shorter because it really didn't make a whole lot of sense, and just slows the pacing a lot.
But I get it, it's suppose to let you feel the environment and everything else.
But, with this movie, the mindset is that anybody can learn anything but it's what you want to learn that counts, and following your passions and innovating is a good thing.
Just like the movie said a lot of people didn't go to college, one of the most famous examples is Richard Branson, and the others did go to college but didn't complete it all the way was, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, and even Bill Gates.
Nowadays, the education line is going more towards the online courses and the online media but a lot of people still see that as not a potential, but I do, because some don't have time to do the real route because some might be working and might not want to return to an institution, or simply they are independent enough to go this route.
And this movie essentially scrapes that surface but goes more into depth then it knows.
The Depth
The depth is very much about what Suli Breaks said;a very famous spoken word artist on Youtube but got recognized and went on tours; which was this:
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Breaking down what he said, it's very much the rhetoric that this movie gives off which is that traditional education the very one we praise for high scores and point averages, kills our individuality and this is what the movie runs on.
But that doesn't mean it goes Scott-free.
The Problems With The Movie
I saw one reviewer's comment who said and I quote, this; "The characters themselves don't believe this idea would work so why should I"
And I agree to most of that, but, I saw it as more of one person desperately trying to cover the fact that he can't go to college because no college has accepted him and just trying to make his parents proud of him who drove him to do this, and really it was really Jonah Hill's character whom wasn't really fully on board with the idea, the others, you could see the gears turning in their heads of the next best move.
Especially Barnaby Gaines(played by Justin Long), who really comes to everyone's side because he is one of them as well.
But with every good performance he had, he had twice or even a little bit more, because he really was that awkward guy who thinks fast and that's why he's talking fast but he didn't really have enough conviction for me and maybe that's why that reviewer didn't want to believe this idea would work, but I sort of gave him a pass.
The comedy in this movie is very subjective, I thought Glenn as the running joke and the guy who wanted to blow shit up with his mind was a weird choice to be running jokes, and kind of wore off very fast.
But earlier into it, in the first and half of the second act, I really chuckled and enjoyed the comedy. Obviously, Jonah Hill's early work is funny, and really he did well in 21 Jump street as well as it's sequel, but I always think his newer work are mostly hit and miss.
I guess he just wrote himself into a corner and just was like, I need shock humor, and then teamed up with Seth Rogen,
And finally the finale of course.I think a lot of people guessed the ending already and they kinda tried to drag it out but they kinda knew but it felt a little bit too long because we already knew what was going to happen, we're gonna have the happy ending, and such.
But I really think if you let it, it can kind of warm your heart to say wow, these guys just bull shitted their way and found something that actually benefits the people. Benefits society.
Because essentially this movie is about the grounds to innovate and you always need a conducive environment in which that help facilitate it not impede it.
Overall?
Overall this movie is very much a 6.4/10.
I think it's a corny movie and it's very subjective but I enjoyed it and really I thought it was smart in it's thought process but the delivery might not have been the most perfect.
Take it for what it's worth and check it out if you want to.
