Well, not the ENTIRE reason to see this film... but she was certainly the highlight for me. Why? Frankly because I didn't even know who she was until I saw this film (sad, considering her other work is extremely interesting).
At any rate, the plot is simple; high school students pressured by life decisions plan to steal the S.A.T. (which has various definitions assigned to it throughout the movie). It becomes an elaborate scheme and many people get caught up in it.
Including shinning Erika Christensen (from SWIMFAN and TRAFFIC).
There's the obvious collection of somewhat stereotypical kids (a stoner, a brain, two slackers- one more academically charged than the audience would like to believe).
At any rate, this movie plays well.
I actually loved it!
I supposed it was a bit more personal for me since my PSAT and S.A.T. were HELL!!!!!! And I sunk my teeth depe into a movie that blasted these types of standardized tests and the implications they hold (sexism, racism, placism, all of which are true of standardized tests and the current education system in general, sad to me... and me on the brink of being an English professor).
At any rate, the bottom line is this: You HAVE to admire a movie where one of the "heroes" of the film is a stoner who's so ultra-smart among his peers that he excells past all of them while convincing everyone around him that he's borderline stupid. Only Mtv could produce such a character, or such a film.
I give it 5 out of 5 stars.
And watch Johansson... She's gonna be a star if her smoldering performance here is any indication! She plays the best goth/metal/rebellious/finger-to-the-system/badgirl I've seen in film today...
