St. Trinian's ~~

So, true to my nature I could not resist a film involving both Colin Firth and Rupert Everett. In my commitment to British film, it is possible to see some stinker flicks but this, thankfully, was actually pretty good. If you are a 12 year old girl, you might possibly think this is the greatest film ever made... until you hit puberty and get a grip.

I'm going to assume everyone knows of the original St.Trinian's films of the 50's and 60's - riotous, cheeky and often blood-thirsty! - and go straight into how this flick fares. It's lovely to see Colin and Rupert working together again and it really seems to work, although the shared screen time here is pretty limited. Everett plays both the head mistress of the wild and wacky private girls school and also the father (who is also the brother of the head, Miss Fritten) of the newest pupil (or is that inmate???) who is unceremoniously dumped in the school. Miss Fritten is a woman of many layers - dig deep enough and you're certain to find quite a surprise.... Firth, on the other hand, plays an ambitious government minister set on shaping up the hell-hole school to impress the media. Unbeknownst to many, his character has a past with Miss Fritten...

Cutting to the chase... the girls in the school are supposed to be pretty wild and diverse. The cliques both split and unite the school - goths, swots, rich kids etc etc - whilst the head girl whips them all into shape. The premise is pretty simple. The school is set for closure unless someone comes up with a plan to make money quick. The teachers, whilst as weird and diverse as the kids, enlist the help of the girls and Russell Brand, as Flash Harry, organises them. I won't ruin the plan but needless to say, it's crazy...

The girls have a mission and everyone is enlisted. The new girl gets accepted and the plan goes ahead. At the same time, the government minister and the media are snooping about and the school has to be seen to be on its best behaviour. The potential here was pretty great for indulging the audience in madness and mayhem... except it wasn't reached. For a wild bunch of girls the last place you'd find them would be in the zoo as many of the original films girls might have been. These girls are actually quite well behaved and the action is very predictable. I just wanted MORE mayhem! And why not? It's not often films come out where girls are the focus and why shouldn't they be allowed to go wild??? I would have totally flipped for a more anarchic version of this 20 years ago!!! All a bit disappointing.

Other let downs included a real misuse of adult actors - the teachers were a most exciting bunch but thoroughly under scripted and under utilised. As were most of the girls. A good example would be in the use of twin sisters in the film. Rather than use them to be creepy and mad they plumbed for repetitive and dirty (with mud, that is!) The new girl and head girl were just about as good as it got and the 'make-over' scene was totally out of sync with the rest of the flick.

On the plus side, if this is the beginning of a new franchise things can only get better. The pay off here was in the relationship between Colin and Rupert. Those in the know would have picked up on the references made relating to films they had been in together in the past. Be prepared for a shocking, but funny, conclusion to their friendship. I also enjoyed the 'Britishness' of the film. Seeing the countryside and London in the summer is quite a perk. The script was pretty low par but the acting was of a high standard all round.

This would be a great film to watch at a kids party (although I'd limit the sugar intake of the girls before hand to reduce the risk of breakages in the almost guaranteed ensuing bonkers jump-around fest) or on a re-run on TV. I think, for nostalgic purposes, I'd rather sit through one of the originals although I never say no to Mr F or Mr E. It's probably a grower but I will admit that it's zest and rebelliousness are definitely a little bit infectious!