DETENTION (Sony, 2011) D: Joseph Khan, w/ Josh Hutcherson, Shanley Caswell. Rating: NNN DVD package: NNNN Rating: NNN
Detention crams bucketloads of gags into its headlong rush, crackles with teenspeak and dead-on 90s references and has a plot that gallops far beyond its cheesy slasher comedy premise.
Somebody disguised as a movie monster is slicing up the teens in suburban Grizzly Lake. Nobody gets too worked up except for an outcast girl (Shanley Caswell), who’s also pining for an amiable slacker (Josh Hutcherson), who’s dating an über-bitch cheerleader (Spencer Locke), which makes him a target for a steroid-crazed jock (Parker Bagley). When everybody gets Saturday detention, the crazed flashbacks, mind swaps and time-travelling bear kick in.
The young cast keeps this cheery nonsense afloat with energetic, committed performances that work in the berserk scenes and the quieter, John Hughes-type moments. This is harder than it sounds. Check out Caswell’s remarks on embarrassment in the lively picture-in-picture cast and crew commentary, which offers non-stop humour, making-of stories and insights into character and direction.
EXTRAS Commentary. English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Thai audio. English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Thai subtitles.
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