Reviews

We all know how the Academy continually gives out awards and award nominations to the wrong movies, while snubbing movies that are superior in every other way. HOWEVER, the Academy really dropped the ball here.

I am a huge movie buff and will pretty much watch anything even if the premise doesn't have mass appeal. This one clearly has less mass appeal, but the critical acclaim drew me in and wasted 1 hour and 20 minutes of my life (I couldn't watch the last 40 minutes and after reading the plot summary on Wikipedia, I was relieved/upset to find out I didn't miss anything.)

The character development flat out sucks. I'm all for movies with a slightly ambiguous nature, but you gotta satisfy the viewers somehow by letting them know what's going on and having the movie make sense. Brie Larson is decent in the main role, but her character isn't really explored and there isn't enough depth to her character. Jack (don't know the actor's name) is a basic 5-year old and I've heard a better child-centric voice narration from a Disney movie.

The only reason I gave it a 5 and not something lower is because there are a few aspects of the film I liked. *SPOILER ALERT* The scene where they finally escape from the room is engaging, but after that the film drags on as the people who made this film don't have any knack for quality storytelling. *END SPOILER ALERT*

Don't waste your time on this movie as it doesn't do justice to a very disturbing subject matter and only leaves you asking one question: Why did I waste 2 hours of my life? Congrats Academy for messing up again. It just really sickens me that great films like Love & Mercy, Straight Outta Compton, Sicario, and The End of the Tour get not nearly the acclaim they deserve by the Academy (Sicario and Straight Outta Compton deserve more nominations) or fail to be recognized by the Academy at all (Love & Mercy, The End of the Tour). The Academy sucks and this film re-confirmed it for me.

I'm a huge fan of the Coen brothers and really enjoyed this film.

It does slow down a bit at places, but is more for a mainstream audience than most of their films.

I love George Clooney's character as a dumb man who thinks he has it all together. John Turturro is excellent as usual ("you stole from my kin!"). And anyone who's seen the Disney film Holes will appreciate Tim Blake Nelson's character.

Definitely some political undertones in the film, but try not to read too much into them and you'll enjoy an adventure film with some moments of comedy, drama, and many religious themes.

I pray that racism isn't the reason this film has such a low rating on here.

I'm a black college student who used to be in a white fraternity and this film is actually fairly accurate to the ideas those organizations promote.

The acting is stellar, Laurence Fishburne, Giancarlo Esposito, Tisha Champbell, and Spike Lee steal the show but as much effort is put into almost every supporting role.

The cinematography is done pretty well, not flawless but as a film buff I appreciated it. The music is awesome and keeps you engaged, it really serves as a nice break for the more dramatic scenes.

The storyline is overall about finding yourself in college which is a very difficult task and even more difficult now in the age of social media.

The only complaint I had about this film is that the actors don't really look like college students, but it's minuscule in comparison to the film's themes.

I would recommend this film, but the primary audience is adults and I would keep high school students away from this film unless they're exceptionally mature for their age.

Go into School Daze with an open mind and be prepared for a powerful film that sticks in your mind well after your initial viewing.