Senior Year is a comedy, not quite a romcom, about a 90's teen who falls into a coma after a cheerleading injury only to awaken 20 years later and attempt to reinsert herself into high school life and complete her goal of becoming prom queen.
Rebel Wilson plays the lead Stephanie and brings her always reliable magnetism and physical comedy to the role and its nice to see her in the lead, her second after Isn't It Romantic, her characterization allows for a lot of comedy but doesn't belittle the stunted 17 year old she's portraying, similar to Vince Vaughn's recent turn in Freaky, it's a complicated piece of performance and she may not get that much credit for it given the movie is a broad comedy. Unfortunately the younger supporting cast, Stephanie's classmates, aren't given much screentime or development but the older supporting cast- Sam Richardson as Stephanie's friend Seth, Mary Holland as Stephanie's friend Martha, Chris Parnell as Stephanie's dad- all give really nice turns, comedic but with heart.
There's some wonderful late 90's costuming going on but other than that the production design is functional if not particularly inspired. The camera work equally serviceable if not in anyway artful. The idea is a solid one and Wilson holds the story together admirably with her charm and ability. It may tie up too neatly, too quickly, at the end, back loading all the pathos that might have been better served dolled out throughout but still its a fun, breezy, piece of entertainment.
An unabashed comedy with a terrific lead falls a short in its character arcs but delivers on laughs.
Currently streaming on Netflix.
Rent It.
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