"Acting is not copying real life." OK, we're in drama school. Young people who might have talent (but you've seen the statistics of probability) are creatively(?) bullied and humiliated by their teacher (veteran actor Kerry Fox), in the hope that some spark of the divine might thereby flicker into existence. This is Auckland, New Zealand, and that makes it different. No it doesn't.
Was Stanley (James Rolleston) voted "least likely to be the next Brando"? He's come from some small rural town, where (we can assume) rugby is more highly regarded than the thespian mysteries. We plod through the months, which are announced on the screen, just in case we can't figure this ourselves.
Capable young Kiwi actors pretend that they're starting out from scratch again. Starting a little too young, perhaps? That schoolgirl is still some months short of the age of consent, Mr tennis coach. "She wanted it, you could tell." Try that one on the judge, bro.
"When we're tough on you, it's never personal, you know that." But what if the creative bullying gets too much for one student? Or maybe he was going to crack anyway.
This is cinema naive. Teenage dreams are tested. You remember being a teenager? It was embarrassing, right? This movie avoids embarrassment, but not by much. New Zealanders are a "team of five million." The Prime Minister said so, long, long ago, when the coronavirus was putting civilization on hold. So be patriotic, all you Kiwis, and support your indigenous cinema industry.
0 out of 0 found this helpful