HOME ROOM
PLOT-After a violent incident at school, a goth chick is forced by the administration to keep an injured, over-achieving rich girl company at the local hospital.
VIOLENCE-Although the shooting isn't ever fully shown, traumatic images flash on the screen whenever the main characters think back on the incident. Nothing too gory from what I remember.
SEX/NUDITY-None.
WHY I WATCHED IT-After seeing Bill Hellfire's well-meaning (but disturbingly exploitative) DUCK! THE CARBINE HIGH MASSCARE and Gus Van Sant's overly stylish and embarassingly retarded ELEPHANT, my hope was that Busy Phillipps (whom I adored in the highly underrated classic TV show FREAKS AND GEEKS) could bring some quality and dignity back to such a truly tragic and important issue.
THE DOPE-Instead of trying to dramatize a school shooting and/or the events leading up to it, HOMEROOM wisely chooses to begin its story after the incident takes place, focusing on the survivors and confronting head-on the very issues that cause high school social conflicts period. While the plot thread involving the police investigation of the shooting is strong and engaging on its own, HOMEROOM is really centered around two young girls from very different social backgrounds who are thrown into a situation and forced to interact, having been bonded by a violent incident but being about as opposite as they possibly could as people. This is what makes the film so compelling and interesting to watch.
Erica Christiansen is excellent as the bubbly, over-priviledged daddy's girl whose reality has been shattered by classroom gun violence, and was nearly killed by a bullet intended for her. We all knew girls like her in school, and it's an odd image to see her sitting up in a hospital bed, one side of her head shaven, covered by a bandage because a bullet penetrated her skull. Christiansen's performance is multi-layered, fascinating, and even jarringly intense at times. She completely immerses herself in the character, and delivers a thoroughly convincing and praiseworthy performance.
And how does my girl Busy Phillipps fare? Well truly, she has yet to play any role that's much different from Kim Kelly, the part she made famous from FREAKS AND GEEKS. She's just so perfect as the bad girl with an attitude. However, her turn as the withdrawn, sullen, unglamorous chain-smoking goth demands your attention every time she speaks a line. Phillipps balances the foul language and explosive personality of the character with quick wit and an underlying softness that makes you like her and become totally entranced.
HOMEROOM is a respectful, important, and perfectly crafted piece of contemporary cinema that should NOT be overlooked, and just might teach you something about yourself.
NOTES-The DVD has a great extra feature detailing the actors & filmmakers visit to Columbine High, scene of one of the worst school shootings in our nation's history. They screen HOMEROOM for the students, and get their honest reactions afterward.
(December 2003)